Pearl School

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Pearl School in Coryell County. From eighteen eighty-four to nineteen fifty-eight, this place was something. It started as a log cabin.

Puncheon floor, split log benches, the kind of schoolroom that makes you appreciate a proper chair. One teacher, sometimes two, doing what they could for the children of Pearl, Texas. The first trustees were J.

H. Harrison, V. C.

Karnes, and Frank Roberts. Those three men put their names to something that would last the better part of a century. Then nineteen oh seven rolled around, and with a new building came a third member of the faculty.

By nineteen seventeen, four teachers were walking those halls. And by nineteen thirty-four, Pearl had grown into a seven-teacher high school with a gymnasium. A gymnasium.

That's a long way from split log benches. The marker says the school furnished its fair share of educated citizens, and if you know anything about small Texas towns, you know that's not a small thing. Then came nineteen fifty-eight.

Consolidation with the Evant district. The school's run was done. But here's the part that lands.

That building, the one full of youthful associations as the marker puts it, didn't go dark. It became the Pearl Community Center. And it's still visited, the marker says, by ex-students.

Folks who sat in those rooms, who learned in that place, who come back. Some buildings hold a town's memory, and Pearl School is one of them.

What the marker says

(1884-1958) Evolved from a log cabin with puncheon floor and with split log benches to a modern plant with a gymnasium. Furnished its fair share of educated citizens. In early days, a one or two teacher school. First trustees were J. H. Harrison, V. C. Karnes, and Frank Roberts. In 1907, with a new building, faculty increased to three;in 1917, to four; seven-teacher high school in 1934. Since school's consolidation with Evant district (1958), this building memorable for youthful associations has become Pearl Community Center and is often visited by ex-students. (1970)