DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Cherokee County, there's a spot that used to hum with something remarkable. A place where young Texans came to learn, and not just the basics either.
We're talkin' about Larissa College, and this story begins the way a lot of great Texas stories do: modestly. In 1848, somebody set up a school in a log hut. Just a log hut.
But don't let that fool you, because the bones of something bigger were already there. By 1855, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church had taken the school under its control, and a man named Dr. F.
L. Yoakum stepped in as President. Then on February 2, 1856, Larissa College received its charter, and that made it official.
What followed was something people in Texas hadn't quite seen before. Larissa College, with what the marker calls splendid equipment, offered the strongest science work of that day in all of Texas. All of Texas.
Think about that. Born in a log hut, and it grew into the leading edge of scientific education in the whole state. Dr.
Yoakum held the presidency through 1866, steering that institution every year of its chartered life. And then, 1866, the doors closed. No fanfare.
The Civil War had come and gone, and Larissa College did not survive what followed. The State of Texas saw fit to erect a marker here in 1936, making sure nobody just drives past this quiet Cherokee County spot without knowing what once stood here and what it meant. A log hut in 1848, the finest science education in Texas by 1856, and gone by 1866.
Some things burn bright and brief, and Larissa College was one of them.
What the marker says
A prominent school before the Civil War. Established in a log hut in 1848. Placed under the control of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1855. Chartered February 2, 1856. With splendid equipment, Larissa offered the strongest science work of that day in Texas. Closed in 1866. Dr. F. L. Yoakum, President, 1855-1866. Erected by the State of Texas 1936