Hovey School

Duane's take

The official marker's the source, and here's how I tell it. Now, out here in Pecos County, the land has a way of outlasting just about everything built on it. But every now and then, a building holds on, and it carries the whole story of a place inside its walls.

This is one of those buildings. Around 1910, a railroad stop named Hovey came into being, sitting about forty miles west of where you're standing right now, on the Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railroad. A stop, a name on a map, and the promise that something might grow there.

By 1913, Hovey had put down enough roots to call itself a real community. A depot, a post office and general store, and several stock shipping pens. That's the shape of a working ranch community, right there.

And in that same year, 1913, Hovey School was established. Now, the first school building didn't make it. It burned.

That's just the plain fact of it, and it's the kind of loss a small community feels deep. But they didn't walk away. In 1916, a new schoolhouse was erected right there in Hovey.

One teacher. Seven grades. Anglo and Hispanic students together, the children of that rural ranch community, sharing one room and one teacher and whatever the day had to teach them.

For more than two decades that school held. Then, in 1938, it closed. The community didn't let the building sit idle, though.

It became a community center, still gathering people under its roof. And then, in 1987, the building was moved here, to where you can see it today. A schoolhouse that survived fire, distance, and time.

That's a story the walls earned.

What the marker says

About 1910 a railroad stop named Hovey was established about 40 miles west of here on the Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railroad. By 1913 Hovey contained a depot, post office/general store, and several stock shipping pens. Hovey school was established in 1913. The first school building burned and in 1916 this schoolhouse was erected in Hovey. It served as a one-teacher seven-grade school for Anglo and Hispanic students of the rural ranch community of Hovey. After the school closed in 1938 the building served as a community center. It was moved here in 1987. (1994)