​Site of
​First Public School in Bryan

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Marker Text: ​ At the polls on Oct. 29, 1877, the City of Bryan voted to establish a free public graded school -- a very progressive step in an era of private schools. Interested citizens immediately bought and donated this block for the site. Financial help came from the George Peabody Foundation, a philanthropic agency devoted to education in the post-Civil War South.
      Cornerstone was laid in 1879. The first session opened in the fall of 1880 with noted East Texas educator Percy V. Pennybacker (1860-99) as principal. There were five other teachers and seven grades.
        Top floor of the 3-story brick building was the auditorium, used for chapel, calisthenics, and other programs. Dormer windows were set into the roof. Classrooms were on first and second floors; heating was by wood-burning stoves throughout the building. The schoolyard had a boys' and a girls' side. On each side there was an arbor with benches and tables where pupils ate lunches brought from home. A cistern with tin cups chained to its rim provided water.
       Outmoded by 1919, the old "graded" (or "east side") school became an adjunct to a new structure built that year, and housed gymnasium, cafeteria, and shop department. It was razed in 1949. (1973

Marker No: 8682

Aluminum 27 x 42 Subject Marker

Geographic: 30.669214,-96.369247

Location: 30th  and Baker Streets intersection, Bryan