Site of Bartley-Woods School

Before 1892 every rural school in Fannin County was known by a number. After the commissioners court called trustee elections that June, Woods was District 42, Providence 41 and Bartley 51. Better roads by the late 1920s made tiny schools unnecessary, so in 1932 the county board merged Bartley and Woods on Bartley's site. The 1940 brick building cost $40,000 and was heated by butane. Outhouses stood apart because there was no pressurized water or sewer, and the county home demonstration agent supervised the landscaping. The Hail School joined the district that year.

What the plaque says

Site of Bartley-Woods School Several rural schools existed in Fannin County in the 1890s, including Bartley School and Woods School. In 1932 the County School Board consolidated the schools, along with Providence School and formed the Bartley-Woods School. Three teachers were responsible for not only the consolidation, but for teaching a wide range of subjects. A new brick building, designed by architect Hoke Smith, was erected here in 1940 on land acquired by the Bartley-Woods School District. Constructed with assistance from the Works Progress Administration, the new school building included seven classrooms, a library, cafeteria, and an auditorium with seating for 300 people. The modern campus served a large area. By 1941 seven teachers instructed about 200 pupils. A gymnasium was added to the school in the early 1950s. The school not only provided quality education for youth, but also community programs that benefited farmers and returning veterans after World War II. The building also served as a community center for the area for several years. The County School Board closed the Bartley-Woods School in 1958. The building was razed in 1991. (1996)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site — 12 mi
  The two-story farmhouse west of Bonham that the longtime Speaker of the House built in 1916 and kept as his home, left as he lived in it and open as a museum since 1975.
• Cooper Lake State Park — 23 mi
  Two units on Jim Chapman Lake, a Corps reservoir proposed in the late 1930s, stalled by a lawsuit until 1984 and dedicated in 1991, with a 10.5-mile equestrian trail and wildlife land around it.

More markers nearby

• The Sam Rayburn Homesite — 3.0 mi
• Gober Garage — 3.6 mi
• Gober Public Schools — 3.8 mi
• Gober Baptist Church — 3.9 mi