Site of J.H. Rowe School

A second marker at the site, transcribed on the Historical Marker Database, says the Jasper County Training School for Negroes was established in 1875, ten years after the Civil War, and had fifteen principals between 1880 and 1924. It says J. H. Rowe, principal from 1924 until his death in 1943, added home economics and agriculture, and the state accredited the school in 1928. His son Oran A. Rowe and then Sherman Coleman led it next; it won its first state football championship in 1967. After integration in 1968 the campus became Jasper Junior School, grades five through eight.

What the plaque says

Site of J.H. Rowe School Formal public education for African American students in the Jasper area dates to 1875 and the formation of a school at nearby Cold Springs. It moved to a new campus in Jasper in 1924, the same year James Hoff Rowe came as administrator. Born in Panola County in 1876, Rowe attended Prairie View Normal and Industrial College (Prairie View A&M University) and Hampton Institute in Virginia. He served as dean at Prairie View before coming to Jasper. The education programs increased in scope and significance during his leadership, and he remained principal until his death in 1943. The school was later named in his honor, and it remained open until integration in 1968. (2004)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Martin Dies, Jr. State Park — 14 mi
  A 705-acre state park on Steinhagen Reservoir at the meeting of the Neches and Angelina rivers, with about 14 miles of paddling trails through sloughs and more than 200 campsites.

More markers nearby

• Jasper County Courthouse — 0.7 mi
• Jasper "News-Boy" — 0.7 mi
• Jasper County, C. S. A. — 0.7 mi
• Jasper Public Schools — 1.2 mi