| Marker Number |
453 |
| Atlas Number |
5097000453 |
| Marker Title |
Booker T. Washington School |
| Index Entry |
Washington, Booker T., School |
| Address |
701 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. |
| City |
Gainesville |
| County |
Cooke |
| UTM Zone |
14 |
| UTM Easting |
671497 |
| UTM Northing |
3722625 |
| Subject Codes |
African American topics; educational topics |
| Marker Year |
1986 |
| Recorded Texas Historic Landmark |
No |
| Marker Location |
Martin Luther King Jr. Ave, north side between Mill and Culbertson streets. |
| Private Property |
No |
| Marker Condition |
In Situ |
| Marker Size |
18" x 28" |
| Marker Text |
In 1880, two years before the City of Gainesville created a public school system for all its children, Island Sparks, a young mulatto, taught the Black children of the city. In 1886, the city built a frame school building on this site for the community's Black youth. Originally known as the Gainesville Colored School, the school adopted the name Booker T. Washington sometime before 1927. The original two-story facility was replaced in 1939 with a red brick, WPA project structure. Desegregation in 1965-66 resulted in the closing of Booker T. Washington as a Black institution. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986 |
