Public Education in Terrell

The 1883 vote was not Terrell's first schooling. The Handbook of Texas says private schools had opened as early as 1874 and a public system was in place by 1882, a year before the July 1883 vote on the plaque. Private education also outlasted the vote. Texas Military College, founded by Louis Clausiel Perry, opened in September 1915 on the former Wesley College grounds and housed students by home region under what it called the "home group system." After Perry died in 1926 his widow, Minnie, ran it until she sold the campus in February 1949.

What the plaque says

Public Education in Terrell On July 3, 1883, the citizens of Terrell voted overwhelmingly to establish and support a system of public schools. The first classes were held in September of that year in buildings that had previously been occupied by various private schools. In 1885, Terrell's first public school building, a three-story brick structure, was completed at the corner of Moore and Ann streets. It burned in 1913, and classes were held at the site of the former Wesley College until a replacement was completed in 1914. Over the years additional facilities have been built as the student population increased. The Terrell School System has been served by able leaders throughout its history. D. A. Paulas served the first superintendent. From 1893 to 1918 the district was headed by S. M. N. Marrs, who went on to become state superintendent of public instruction in 1922. Since its beginning in 1883 and its first graduating class in 1886, the Terrell schools have produced fine community citizens and leaders. Public education in Terrell has had a significant impact on the development and growth of the town and the surrounding area. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum — 3.2 mi
  A free museum at Terrell's airport where about 2,200 RAF cadets learned to fly between 1941 and 1945, with logbooks, uniforms, letters and original training aircraft.
• Rockwall County Historical Foundation & Museum — 15 mi
  A small museum in Harry Myers Park that keeps the evidence on Rockwall's rock wall, sandstone dikes that geologists call natural and folk tales call built.

More markers nearby

• Porter Farms — 1.0 mi
• Marrs, S. M. N. — 1.4 mi
• Rockwall and Brin Church of Christ — 1.6 mi
• First United Methodist Church of Terrell — 1.6 mi