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
ATLAS_NUM=5507016572

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