DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Site of Shiloh School in Gregg County. Now settle in, because this one carries some weight to it. Right after the Civil War, the newly freed African Americans of the Shiloh community made a decision — they were going to build a school for their children.
That's where this story begins. A one-room building, raised up by a community that had just stepped into freedom, determined that their children would have something to step into next. That building was demolished in the late 1800s, but the schooling didn't stop.
Classes moved over to the Shiloh Baptist Church, and the work went on. Then, with financial assistance from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, a new two-room school was erected in 1920. That was an upgrade.
And it didn't stop there either — in the 1930s, a large brick building replaced it. A real institution now. The high school ran until 1949, when it closed.
The rest of the Shiloh School carried on until 1966, when the end of segregation brought those doors shut too. The graduates of Shiloh went on to become contributing citizens in Texas and across the nation — carrying with them whatever was built inside those walls across all those decades. And the building itself?
It sat vacant for years. Long vacant. Until somebody decided it was useful enough to store chemicals for a plastics company.
And in 1993, it burned. A school built out of hard-won freedom, gone in a fire. The marker doesn't let you forget what stood there — and neither should we.
What the marker says
The newly freed African Americans of the Shiloh community established a school for their children shortly after the Civil War. The one-room building was demolished in the late 1800s and classes were held at the Shiloh Baptist Church. With financial assistance from the Julius Rosenwald fund, a new two-room school was erected in 1920. It was replaced by a large brick building in the 1930s. The high school was closed in 1949; the end of segregation closed the rest of the Shiloh School in 1966. Shiloh graduates became contributing citizens in Texas and the nation. Long vacant, the school building was later used to store chemicals for a plastics company and burned in 1993. (1998)