East Side Elementary School
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member QuarrellaDeVil
N 33° 14.350 W 097° 34.681
14S E 632481 N 3678701
Texas Historical Marker commemorating the old East Side Elementary School, Decatur's only African American school, a reminder of days when things were "separate but equal"...in theory. Located in a turnout at the intersection of FM 51 and US380B.
Waymark Code: WMM8K0
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/11/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member QuesterMark
Views: 7
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Marker Number: 17738

Marker Text:
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Wise and several surrounding counties had few African American citizens. Yet regulations at the time required separate facilities for African Americans. Most African American families in Decatur lived in a neighborhood east of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway tracks. In 1882, they established East Side Elementary School, which was the only school for African American students in Wise County. The original building was a one-room frame structure built near the residence of a Mrs. Missouri Brown. Initially the facility also served as a church. It had a pot-bellied stove that the boys gathered wood for from the nearby creek. A water well was abandoned in the 1930s when it was discovered to be contaminated with oil. East Side Elementary School often inherited discarded furnishings and textbooks from Decatur's white schools. Students who completed eighth grade had to travel to Fort Worth's I.M. Terrell High School (45 miles) or Denton's Fred Moore High School (30 miles) to continue their education. In 1954, the school was replaced by a two-classroom brick building and the old frame building was used as a band hall at Decatur High School. Later, the former school served as a barn and then was moved back to its historic neighborhood. East Side Elementary School operated until segregation ended in 1965 and all students attended the same schools. Little documentation exists for Decatur's African American community. The stories of East Side Elementary School serve as reminders of the struggles and triumphs of a different time in our nation's past. (2013) Marker is Property of the State of Texas
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Recent Visits/Logs:
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Benchmark Blasterz visited East Side Elementary School 06/10/2019 Benchmark Blasterz visited it
QuarrellaDeVil visited East Side Elementary School 08/10/2014 QuarrellaDeVil visited it

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