Site of Saint Francis Xavier Academy

A transcribed newspaper article marking the school's 63rd year, about 1939, says what the academy taught. Graduation took sixteen credits, with commercial subjects, vocal and instrumental music, expression and dramatic art, and physical training. It claimed accreditation from the Catholic University of America, the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma. Twelve sisters taught, and 150 to 175 pupils registered yearly. Girls could board, boys joined day classes, and students of any faith could enroll. The brick main building stood on the north side of Sears Street between Rusk and Burnett.

What the plaque says

Site of Saint Francis Xavier Academy Founded in 1876 by the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, Belgium, in association with St. Patrick's Catholic Church, St. Francis Xavier Academy was the first of six Texas schools organized by the Sisters. After purchasing a house, Sisters Augustine, Adelphine, Anne, and Benedictine opened their doors to 46 day students and 8 boarders, all girls, from Texas and the Indian Territory for the study of the arts, sciences, and classics. A 1901 Gothic brick edifice became the main structure of St. Francis Xavier. The academy consolidated with the St. Patrick's School and became coeducation in 1924. St. Francis Xavier closed in 1968, and the academy buildings were razed in 1971. (1998)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site — 0.8 mi
  The small frame house beside the Katy tracks in Denison where Dwight Eisenhower was born in 1890, bought by townspeople in 1946 and given to Texas in 1958.
• Eisenhower State Park — 5.0 mi
  A bluff-top park on Lake Texoma opened in 1958 on land leased from the Corps of Engineers, in the Red River country of Fort Johnson, Colbert's Ferry and the Butterfield stages.
• Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge — 12 mi
  A 1946 refuge on the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma, laid over land bought for Denison Dam and the site of the vanished railroad town of Hagerman, now a winter stop for geese.
• Choctaw Cultural Center — 16 mi
  The Choctaw Nation's history told from the Chahta side at Calera, with galleries from Nanih Waiya to the Trail of Tears and the reservation today, a living village and daily stickball.

More markers nearby

• Present Home of XXI Club — steps away
• First Presbyterian Church — steps away
• Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad — 0.3 mi
• Waples-Platter Grocery Company — 0.3 mi