Old Dougherty House

The plaque says all seven Dougherty children began as teachers; one of them went further than most Texas women of her day. Lida Dougherty, born in Corpus Christi in 1873, studied at St. Mary's Academy in Austin, at Denton and at the University of Texas, and became superintendent of schools in Beeville. Her 1949 obituary called her the first woman in Texas to hold such a post. She raised money for the Newman club at the university, wrote the inscription on the Centennial monument to the colony, and lived in the family home here with her sister Mary.

What the plaque says

Old Dougherty House Location of noted St. Paul's Academy for Boys. Home of school owner Robert Dougherty (1827-1881), a refugee from 1840s Irish famine. Educated at St. Mary's College, Kentucky, Dougherty worked as a journalist and merchant before settling in Texas, here marrying Rachel Sullivan. In 1867-1874, he was principal, Hidalgo Seminary, Corpus Christi. Built his school here on Round Lake, near wife's family, 1876. He taught geography, history, mathematics, Latin, Greek, classical literature and Gaelic--subjects rare in that era. His seven children all began their careers as teachers. (1970)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lipantitlán State Historic Site — 2.9 mi
  Five undeveloped acres on the Nueces named for the Lipan Apaches who camped here, where Mexico built an earth-and-rail fort that Texans took early in the Revolution.
• Lake Corpus Christi State Park — 9.6 mi
  A lake park in the South Texas brush country above Mathis, on a reservoir of the Nueces, with a Civilian Conservation Corps refectory and more than 200 bird species.
• Texas State Aquarium — 25 mi
  A nonprofit aquarium on the tip of Corpus Christi Beach built around the Gulf and the Caribbean, with the largest coastal wildlife rescue center in Texas behind the exhibits.
• Art Museum of South Texas — 25 mi
  Philip Johnson's 1972 museum on the Corpus Christi bayfront, joined in 2006 by Ricardo Legorreta's Miller Wing, holding more than 2,000 works mostly from Texas and the Americas.

More markers nearby

• Saint Patrick's Catholic Church — steps away
• Battle of San Patricio — 0.3 mi
• Courthouses of San Patricio County — 0.3 mi
• Josepha Rodriguez — 0.3 mi