Gary Elementary School

Tyler school officials bought two acres from Horace Chilton and built an eight-classroom school of stone, brick and wood in 1908. KLTV reported in 2025 that the building came down in 1924, and architect Mark Thacker told the station its joists and flooring were reused at Caldwell Elementary on College Street. The 1924 replacement is now a Tyler ISD administration building, the report says. The 1994 marker is on a brick wall near the entrance, and eight other state markers stand within walking distance of the corner of South Chilton Avenue and West Phillips Street.

What the plaque says

Gary Elementary School School officials acquired two acres here in 1907 from Horace Chilton and in 1908 built an 8-room white stone schoolhouse. The elementary school was named for Franklin N. Gary, an early settler of this area noted for his support of public education. The original schoolhouse was replaced in 1924 with a new structure. Additional facilities have been added over the years to accommodate increased enrollment. Many in the generations of Tyler students who attended this school became leaders in the community. The school continues to serve the public. (1994)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Goodman-LeGrand House and Museum — 1.0 mi
  A Tyler house begun in 1859 as four rooms, enlarged by the Goodman family over 73 years, and left to the city in 1939 with its furnishings, in a garden that fills a city block.
• Tyler Rose Garden and Rose Museum — 1.1 mi
  More than 38,000 rose bushes of about 600 cultivars in a free city garden, beside a museum of the Texas Rose Festival, which began in 1933, and of the rose industry.
• Camp Ford Historic Park — 4.3 mi
  A free county park north of Tyler on the site of the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi, with a kiosk, an interpretive trail and a historical society museum downtown.
• Tyler State Park — 9.8 mi
  A 985-acre park eight miles north of Tyler, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1941 around a 64-acre spring-fed lake, with more than 13 miles of trails.

More markers nearby

• Rudolph Bergfeld — 0.6 mi
• Tyler Commercial College — 0.6 mi
• Near Site of C.S.A. Ordnance Plant — 0.6 mi
• First County Agricultural Extension Agent — 0.7 mi