Ezzell School

Duane's take

The way I tell it, this comes straight from the official marker for Ezzell School in Lavaca County. Pull up a chair, because this one goes back a good long way. Somewhere in the early 1850s, pioneers out here on the Texas prairie put up a building two miles north of where we're standing.

They called it White House Christian Church and School, and the name came right from the look of the thing. The lime coating on that building stood out something fierce against all that surrounding green prairie. You can picture it, can't you.

A bright white structure sitting out there on an open stretch of land, serving double duty as a house of worship and a place of learning. Now, that arrangement lasted a good while, but by 1883 the school had moved on. It relocated to a building in the community of Ezzell, on land donated by a man named Andrew Garner.

That school became the community's first public school, and it took its name from local merchants Sam and Ira Ezzell. First of its kind in that community, carrying the names of two men who made their living serving their neighbors. The school kept growing along with the people around it.

In 1922 a new four-room school building was erected right here, on land donated by Dr. E. A.

Evans. Then in 1923 three additional acres were purchased from L. A.

Bishop, adding a little more room to breathe. And in 1925 students from the nearby Live Oak School began attending Ezzell, bringing their books and their futures right through those doors. By 1935 the picture was something to behold.

Three teachers, nine grades, and more than a hundred pupils. Not a small operation by any measure. Then the war came.

Before World War II, the school building itself served as the site for draft registrations. Think about that for a moment. The same building where children were learning arithmetic and reading was also the place where young men's names went into the rolls that could send them across an ocean.

A schoolhouse carrying the weight of the whole community on its shoulders. Now here's where the story takes a turn that not every school can claim. While many rural schools across this part of Texas closed their doors during the 1950s and 1960s, Ezzell didn't just survive, it grew, as the area it served expanded right along with it.

In 1975 a new wing was added to the east side of the building to bring in more students. And in 1989 three classrooms, a science lab, and several physical education facilities were added on top of that. From a lime-coated church-and-school on a green prairie in the early 1850s to an elementary school that outlasted nearly everything around it.

That building, and the community behind it, just kept going. Some stories earn their marker.

What the marker says

In the early 1850s pioneers of this area erected a building 2 miles north of this site which they called White House Christian Church and School because of the contrast its lime coating presented against the surrounding green prairie. In 1883 the school was moved to a building in the community of Ezzell on land donated by Andrew Garner. It was the community's first public school and was named Ezzell for local merchants Sam and Ira Ezzell. In 1922 a new 4-room school building was erected at this site on land donated by Dr. E. A. Evans. Three additional acres were purchased from L. A. Bishop in 1923. In 1925 students from the nearby Live Oak School began attending Ezzell School. Ezzell's three teachers and nine grades served more than 100 pupils in 1935. Prior to World War II the Ezzell School building also served as the site for draft registrations. Unlike many area rural schools which closed during the 1950s and 1960s, Ezzell continued to grow as the area it served expanded. In 1975 a new wing was added to the east side of the building to accommodate more students. In 1989 three classrooms, a science lab, and several physical education facilities were added. Today Ezzell operates as an elementary school. (1994)