Site of First Public School in Bryan

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the site of the first public school in Bryan, Texas. Now, picture yourself in Bryan on October 29, 1877. The polls are open, and the City of Bryan is about to do something that, for its day, was downright bold.

The vote comes in: Bryan will establish a free public graded school. In an era when private schools were the rule, that was a very progressive step, and the folks of Bryan knew it. They didn't wait around, either.

Interested citizens immediately bought and donated this very block as the site. Then came financial help from the George Peabody Foundation, a philanthropic agency devoted to education in the post-Civil War South. Money in hand, a cornerstone was laid in 1879, and in the fall of 1880, the doors opened for the first session.

At the helm was Percy V. Pennybacker, a noted East Texas educator, born in 1860. He served as principal alongside five other teachers, and together they managed seven grades under one roof.

And what a roof it was. This was a three-story brick building, which in 1880 Bryan was no small statement. The first and second floors held the classrooms, each warmed by wood-burning stoves throughout the building.

The top floor? That was the auditorium, used for chapel, for calisthenics, and for other programs. Dormer windows were set right into the roofline, letting in light from above.

Step outside and you'd find the schoolyard divided, a boys' side and a girls' side, each with its own arbor fitted with benches and tables where pupils ate lunches they'd brought from home. And for water, there was a cistern at the ready, tin cups chained to its rim so nobody walked off with one. It is a detail that feels small, but it tells you everything about the practical world those children lived in.

Percy V. Pennybacker, for his part, did not live long. The marker notes his years as 1860 to 1899.

The school, though, kept going. By 1919, the old building, known by then as the Graded School or the East Side School, was considered outmoded. A new structure went up that same year, and the original building became an adjunct to it, housing the gymnasium, the cafeteria, and the shop department.

It had gone from trailblazer to support act. Then, in 1949, it was razed. Gone now, every brick of it.

But on October 29, 1877, the people of Bryan walked up to those polls and voted for something that didn't exist yet, and what they built on this block shaped every child who passed through it. That's the kind of vote that echoes.

What the marker says

At the polls on Oct. 29, 1877, the City of Bryan voted to establish a free public graded school--a very progressive step in an era of private schools. Interested citizens immediately bought and donated this block for the site. Financial help came from the George Peabody Foundation, a philanthropic agency devoted to education in the post-Civil War South. Cornerstone was laid in 1879. The first session opened in the fall of 1880 with noted East Texas educator Percy V. Pennybacker (1860-99) as principal. There were five other teachers and seven grades. Top floor of the 3-story brick building was the auditorium, used for chapel, calisthenics, and other programs. Dormer windows were set into the roof. Classrooms were on first and second floors; heating was by wood-burning stoves throughout the building. The schoolyard had a boys' and a girls' side. On each side there was an arbor with benches and tables where pupils ate lunches brought from home. A cistern with tin cups chained to its rim provided water. Outmoded by 1919, the old "Graded" (or "East Side") School became an adjunct to a new structure built that year, and housed gymnasium, cafeteria, and shop department. It was razed in 1949. (1973)