Kennedale Independent School District

Kennedale's brick heritage had an address. The Kennedale Brick Works was running by 1886 under K. M. Van Zandt and E. C. Schneider, on ground that is now Sonora Park. John D. Hudson operated a second brickyard by 1888, and by 1894 George Epple and Lucy Sargent owned the works, with Epple passing his interest to Sargent in 1896. An 1887 Fort Worth newspaper praised the quality of the bricks. A debt suit was filed against the company in 1908, and nothing of the brickyard remains.

What the plaque says

Kennedale Independent School District Known for its farming and brick manufacturing, the town of Kennedale was not officially incorporated until 1947. However, the town's citizens recognized early the need for educational facilities for area families. To accommodate their need, the Kennedale Independent School District (ISD) was established around 1890. The first school was a two-story frame building located near the current Administration Building, with all students taught by one teacher. At that time, the academic year was only two months, suiting the needs of the agricultural community. Over the next twenty years, the area grew and so did the need for educational facilities. In 1913, the Kennedale ISD purchased this site for a new school. To reflect the town's brick manufacturing heritage, the new two-story building was constructed with brick. Althought the building had no running water or restroom facilities, the property included a large green space for gardening or outdoor activities. The second floor of the school featured movable walls to create an auditorium for school and community plays and events. In 1938, seeking federal assistance to expand the school campus, the school district applied for funding through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). While it is unknown if the school district was awarded federal funds to build new classrooms, oral history attributes the old rock wall to the WPA. The Kennedale ISD campus changed over the years, but the rock wall remains as a reminder of Tarrant County and Texas Depression-era structures. (2016)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tarrant County Courthouse — 10.0 mi
  A pink-granite courthouse of 1895 on the bluff where the Army set up Fort Worth in 1849, in a county named for the man who led the 1841 attack on the Native villages of Village Creek.
• National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame — 11 mi
  A hall of fame begun in Hereford in 1975 to honor rodeo women, widened in 1977 to Western heritage, and housed in Fort Worth's Cultural District since 2002.
• Kimbell Art Museum — 11 mi
  Louis Kahn's cycloid-vaulted museum of 1972, built from Kay Kimbell's bequest and joined in 2013 by Renzo Piano's pavilion for the exhibitions the Kahn galleries could not hold.
• Fort Worth Stockyards — 12 mi
  The brick-street cattle market where Armour and Swift built packing plants in 1902, now a National Register district with a Coliseum, a museum and a longhorn drive twice a day.

More markers nearby

• First Baptist Church of Kennedale — steps away
• Everman Cemetery — 2.9 mi
• Tate Cemetery — 3.7 mi
• Barron Field — 5.0 mi