Details for Blackwell School
Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5507016572
Data
| Marker Number | 16572 |
| Atlas Number | 5507016572 |
| Marker Title | Blackwell School |
| Index Entry | Blackwell School |
| Address | 501 S. Abbott St. |
| City | Marfa |
| County | Presidio |
| UTM Zone | 13 |
| UTM Easting | 594008 |
| UTM Northing | 3353089 |
| Subject Codes | educational topics; educational buildings |
| Marker Year | 2010 |
| Recorded Texas Historic Landmark | Yes |
| Marker Location | Southwest corner W. Waco and S. Abbott streets |
| Private Property | No |
| Marker Condition | In Situ |
| Marker Size | 18" x 28" |
| Marker Text | Education for local children of Mexican descent dates from 1889, when the former Methodist Church became a schoolhouse. The school, named for longtime principal Jesse Blackwell, served hundreds of Hispanic children up to ninth grade. Students were told to speak only English on campus; Spanish words written on slips of paper were buried on the grounds in a mock funeral ceremony. The school closed in 1965 with integration of Marfa schools. The building sat vacant until preservation efforts by the Blackwell School Alliance, formed in 2006. The one-story schoolhouse has a modified hip roof, front-gabled entry, and plastered 24-inch thick adobe walls on a stone foundation. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2010 |