DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'm just the voice that's gonna carry it down the road with you. Somewhere northwest of Mexia, out in Limestone County, there used to stand a two-story red brick building that a whole lot of people gave everything they had to build. This is its story.
It starts in 1906, when African American members of three Texas districts within the Primitive Baptist Church said out loud what their communities needed — an institute of higher education. That desire sat out there for over a decade, the way big ideas sometimes do, waiting for the right hands to carry it forward. Those hands arrived in 1919.
Four trustees — Thornton Carter, Arthur Randolph Foreman, Rev. Samuel M. Britt, and Lee Wilder Thomas — went out and purchased seventy-six and a half acres of land northwest of Mexia.
Seventy-six and a half acres. That's not a gesture. That's a declaration.
But getting started proved harder than buying the land. The marker tells us plainly: there was some difficulty. That's one of those quiet phrases that carries a whole lot of weight if you let it.
Still, they didn't quit. St. Paul Primitive Baptist College was incorporated in 1924.
Then the trustees secured a loan from Mexia businessman Julius Nussbaum, and construction began on that two-story red brick classroom and dormitory building. The school was completed in February 1929. The doors opened in September.
Now think about that — from a dream spoken aloud in 1906 to a building with doors you could actually open. Those doors opened. The Rev.
E.M. Cooper served as the first dean. Teachers came to fill those classrooms — Edith J.
Boston, Joanne Cooper, Maggie Pulliam, Janie Stout, and P.M. Williams. Every single student was required to do both classroom and laboratory-based work.
No passenger seats at St. Paul. You came to learn, and you came to do.
The courses ranged wide. Core academic subjects, yes — but also vocational work, things like carpentry. And because this school grew from the Primitive Baptist Church, religious training was woven through the whole thing.
Every year, area Primitive Baptist Church leaders came together for a weeklong revival right there on campus. Beyond the classrooms and lab spaces, the school had boys and girls dormitories and athletic facilities for a football team. After World War II, a man named Elijah — Thornton Carter's son — secured federal subsidies for cabinet making and shoe repair instruction for veterans.
The son carrying forward what the father helped build. That's the kind of detail that doesn't need any dressing up. But St.
Paul struggled financially throughout its existence. That's not a footnote — that's part of the truth. And in 1953, the school closed for good.
Around 1980, the main building was demolished. The red brick walls came down. And yet.
The marker says it plain and I'll say it the same way: the school's legacy could be seen for many decades through the skills of St. Paul graduates. The building is gone, but what was taught inside those walls walked out with the people who learned there, and kept walking long after the doors closed.
Seventy-six and a half acres northwest of Mexia. Remember that the next time you drive through Limestone County.
What the marker says
In 1906, African American members of three Texas districts within the Primitive Baptist Church expressed desire to build an institute of higher education for their communities. In 1919, trustees Thornton Carter (1858-1941), Arthur Randolph Foreman (1885-1944), Rev. Samuel M. Britt (1889-1956) and Lee Wilder Thomas (1873-1953) purchased 76.5 acres of land northwest of Mexia. After some difficulty getting started, St. Paul Primitive Baptist College was incorporated in 1924. The trustees secured a loan from Mexia businessman Julius Nussbaum (1856-1935) and construction began on a two-story red brick classroom and dormitory building. The school was completed in February 1929, and the doors opened in September. The Rev. E.M. Cooper served as the first dean. Teachers included Edith J. Boston, Joanne Cooper, Maggie Pulliam, Janie Stout and P.M. Williams. Every student was required to do both classroom and laboratory-based work. St. Paul taught several different types of courses, including the core academic subjects, and also vocational subjects such as carpentry. Due to its affiliation with the Primitive Baptist Church, the school featured religious training and an annual weeklong revival hosted by area Primitive Baptist Church leaders. In addition to classrooms and laboratory spaces, St. Paul had boys and girls dormitories and athletic facilities for a football team. After World War II, Carter’s son Elijah secured federal subsidies for cabinet making and shoe repair instruction for veterans. Throughout its existence, St. Paul struggled financially, and the school closed for good in 1953. Although the main building was demolished around 1980, the school’s legacy could be seen for many decades through the skills of St. Paul graduates. (2022)