Fodice Community School

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Fodice Community School. Back in the 1880s, the people of Fodice needed a place for their children to learn, and the local Methodist church opened its doors for exactly that purpose. School and church, sharing the same roof, the way small Texas communities often made things work.

That arrangement held for roughly two decades, and then, around 1900, a proper schoolhouse went up just west of the church. A building of their own. Enrollment kept climbing through the years, proof enough that the community was growing and that folks cared about keeping it that way.

Then came 1938, and the Works Progress Administration brought improvements to that one-story building, work that carried on through 1940. A federal program leaving its mark on a small Houston County town, shoring up what the community had built for itself. But time has a way of shifting things.

In 1945, the Fodice school was consolidated with the Pennington School District. And by 1960, the population of Fodice had dwindled enough that the students who remained were transferred to other area schools. The schoolhouse that had hummed with children's voices for the better part of a century went quiet.

But here is the part worth sitting with. That building did not fall to ruin. It continued to serve Fodice, this time as a community center, still standing, still useful, still belonging to the people who remember what it was.

And at the base of the marker, a quiet inscription: In Memory of Sabra D. Berry. Someone worth remembering in a place worth remembering.

What the marker says

The Fodice Community School began in the 1880s and was housed in the local Methodist church until about 1900 when a schoolhouse was built west of the church. Enrollment increased through the years, and in 1938-40 improvements were made to the one-story building through the Works Progress Administration. In 1945 Fodice school was consolidated with the Pennington School District. The population of the town dwindled and in 1960 students from Fodice were transferred to other area schools. The building continues to serve Fodice as a community center. (1997) Incise on base: In Memory of Sabra D. Berry