Richards Colored School

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in the mid-1800s, African-American children in this part of Grimes County were making their way to school over in nearby Longstreet. That was the arrangement for a good long while.

Then Richards got its own. Around 1913, the first school in Richards opened its doors inside St. Thomas Methodist Episcopal Church.

A church schoolroom, a congregation sharing its space with its children. That's a fine place to start. From there, the school moved to the Masonic Lodge Hall, and then, sometime after that, a proper two-story schoolhouse went up near the railroad tracks, auditorium and all.

Now we're talking. The kids played basketball, the primary sport of the day, and when county fair time came around, students competed in agriculture, poetry recital, and spelling bees. Real competition.

Real pride. But here's where the story gets hard to hear, and you need to hear it anyway. Fire destroyed three separate schoolhouses between 1920 and 1937.

Three times. Three buildings, gone. And three times, the community came back.

In the 1930s, Richards Colored School absorbed the schools from Longstreet and Pineywoods, growing even as it grieved. A new school was built in 1938. Then in 1962, it was renamed for W.

E. Hall, a man who had served that school as principal, teacher, and coach for a long time. The school that had survived fire and started in a church pew got his name on it, and that name stuck.

It closed in 1966, when schools in Richards integrated. What that community built and rebuilt and rebuilt again, across decades, across fires, across everything, well, that's not a small thing. That's the whole thing.

What the marker says

In the mid-1800s, area African-American children attended school in nearby Longstreet. The first school in Richards began in St. Thomas Methodist Episcopal Church circa 1913. School moved to the Masonic Lodge Hall before a two-story schoolhouse with auditorium was built near the railroad tracks. Basketball was the primary sporting activity, and county fairs featured competition in agriculture, poetry recital and spelling bees. Fire destroyed three separate schoolhouses from 1920 to 1937. In the 1930s, Richards Colored School absorbed schools from Longstreet and Pineywoods. A new school was built in 1938 and renamed in 1962 for longtime principal, teacher and coach W. E. Hall. It closed in 1966 when schools in Richards integrated. 175 years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011