Pearl School

In May 1875 Ellen Reily deeded a tract of land for a school, according to the Handbook of Texas, and it was named Cowhouse School. By the 1890s people called it Sweet Home School. The plaque dates Pearl School from 1884, so the two accounts differ by almost a decade. After consolidation with the Evant district in 1958 the building became the Pearl Community Center, where, in the Handbook's words, reunions, quilting bees and parties still happen. Pearl sits twenty-two miles west of Gatesville, in the northwest part of the county.

What the plaque says

Pearl School (1884-1958) Evolved from a log cabin with puncheon floor and with split log benches to a modern plant with a gymnasium. Furnished its fair share of educated citizens. In early days, a one or two teacher school. First trustees were J. H. Harrison, V. C. Karnes, and Frank Roberts. In 1907, with a new building, faculty increased to three;in 1917, to four; seven-teacher high school in 1934. Since school's consolidation with Evant district (1958), this building memorable for youthful associations has become Pearl Community Center and is often visited by ex-students. (1970)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hamilton County Courthouse — 21 mi
  A limestone courthouse of 1886-87 on the Hamilton square, built after the county's 1878 courthouse burned, enlarged in the early 1930s and rededicated in 2012 after restoration.
• Hancock Springs Park — 26 mi
  Lampasas's city park on Sulphur Creek, with a spring-fed swimming pool that holds about 69 degrees all year, the walls of the old bathhouse and a golf course.

More markers nearby

• Pearl Methodist Church — 0.5 mi
• Pearl Baptist Church — 0.6 mi
• Purmela Baptist Church — 6.4 mi
• King Baptist Church — 7.1 mi