Duffau School

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Duffau School. Now, before you can understand what this building is, you've got to know what it replaced. There was an earlier school building out here in Erath County, and that building burned.

Gone. And when the smoke cleared, the community had a decision to make. They had an insurance settlement in hand, four thousand seven hundred dollars, and they put every cent of it to work.

In 1936, they hired an architect-contractor out of Stephenville, a man named George Coleman, and George Coleman built them something that would last. A one-story structure, brick veneer over frame construction, topped with a hipped metal roof, and a shed-roof front porch entry out front to welcome you in. Simple, honest, built to endure.

No electricity running to it, mind you. They heated the place with wood stoves, lit it with oil lamps, and somehow, in that warm amber glow, they educated the children of this community for over two decades. Year after year, the Duffau School held.

Then came 1958. That's when consolidation arrived, as it did for so many small Texas schools, and Duffau merged with schools in nearby Hico. The schoolhouse went quiet.

But the people of this community weren't about to let it sit and fade. They converted it into a community center, and local citizens have maintained it ever since. A building born from fire and an insurance check, still standing.

That, right there, is a Duffau story.

What the marker says

This schoolhouse was built by architect-contractor George Coleman of Stephenville in 1936 with the $4,700 insurance settlement received after an earlier school building burned. The simple one-story structure, built of brick veneer over frame construction, is topped by a hipped metal roof and features a shed-roof front porch entry. Heated with wood stoves and lighted with oil lamps, it served the community as a school until 1958, when the Duffau School was consolidated with schools in nearby Hico. The building was converted to a community center maintained by local citizens. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1998