Whitt Seminary
Whitt, Parker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In January 1880 the elders of the Christian Church at Whitt purchased five acres of land at this site to build a community school. The Whitt Seminary opened in 1881 in a two-story rock building. By 1885 Whitt was a thriving community of about 400 inhabitants with a number of businesses and a sincere interest in quality education. Seminary enrollment was between 175 and 200 students who came from local and surrounding communities and from as far away as the Oklahoma Territory. The Seminary educated elementary through high school students and included an academic department, a music department, and a commercial school. Music courses offered included piano, organ, guitar, violin, and voice. Other courses included bookkeeping, commercial law, writing, spelling, typing, trigonometry, history, English literature, astronomy, chemistry, and Latin. The Whitt Seminary served the community from 1881 until about 1900. The facility continued to be used as a Christian church until 1937, and then served as a site for community functions, family reunions, and annual Whitt homecomings. The original five acres, Whitt Seminary building and tabernacle were deeded to the Whitt Cemetery Association in 1976. (1991)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1880 the elders of Whitt's Christian Church bought five acres to found a community school, and the two-story rock Whitt Seminary opened its doors in 1881. At a time when frontier Texas towns were fighting for permanence, this ambitious little school drew 175 to 200 students—some traveling from as far as Oklahoma Territory—for a curriculum that ranged from Latin, chemistry, and astronomy to piano, violin, and bookkeeping. It served the community until about 1900, then lived on as a church and gathering place for reunions and homecomings.
Why it matters
The seminary shows how deeply rural communities in the post-Reconstruction South invested in education, treating a first-rate school as the mark of a town worth building.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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