English-German School

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, most towns, when they put up their first school, they do it simple. A building, a teacher, maybe a bench or two.

But Cuero, DeWitt County, they did it with a little more ambition than that. The English-German School. First school in Cuero.

And the people who wanted it built didn't just pass a hat around. They built a corporation and issued stock. Stock.

For a schoolhouse. That right there tells you something about the people who settled this stretch of Texas. They were organized.

They meant business, literally. The school ran from 1877 to 1894, and during those years it taught in not one language but two. English and German, side by side, which means the children walking through that door came out knowing more than most.

The first school in Cuero, financed like a company, run like a community, and teaching a child to think in two tongues at once. That's not just a school. That's a statement.

What the marker says

(1877-1894). Built by corporation issuing stock. Taught both languages. First school in Cuero. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965