Zavala Elementary School

Duane's take

Now here's my telling of what the official marker has to say, so settle in and let me spin it out for you. There's a schoolhouse sitting in East Austin that carries more history in its brickwork than most buildings twice its size, and the story of how it got built is one worth telling slow. Back in the 1930s, the Latino population of Austin was growing fast, fast enough that the Austin Independent School District and the Austin City Council put their heads together and decided the children attending Metz Elementary School needed a separate facility.

That joint decision set everything in motion. Austin architects Giesecke and Harris were tapped for the design, and San Antonio builders M. C.

Falbo and Sons were brought in to do the work. In December 1935, the plans came together around a twelve-room brick schoolhouse, and the price tag came to exactly forty-two thousand, nine hundred and thirty-five dollars. Every single cent of that came from federal Public Works Administration funds.

Not a dime from local coffers. The PWA picked up the whole bill. Now, 1936 was no ordinary year in Texas.

The whole state was commemorating one hundred years of independence from Mexico, and someone made a decision that carried real weight. The new school would be dedicated to Lorenzo de Zavala. He was the only native of Mexico to sign the Texas declaration of independence, and he had served as vice-president of the Republic of Texas.

He had died in 1836, the very year that republic was born. Naming that school for him, in a centennial year, in a neighborhood of Latino families, that wasn't an accident. The school opened in the fall of 1936 and was officially dedicated on October 21st of that year.

But the story doesn't stop at the ribbon cutting. In March 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved another PWA project tied directly to this neighborhood.

It was called Santa Rita Courts, and it carried a distinction that nobody could overlook: the first federal housing project in the entire nation. Giesecke and Harris and Falbo and Sons, the same team that built Zavala, were selected to build it too. They put Santa Rita Courts directly east of the school.

Then in March 1939, a request went to the school board for an addition, because new students kept coming and the building needed to grow. That request culminated in additional PWA funding, and Zavala expanded again. Santa Rita Courts were completed in June 1939.

A companion project, Chalmers Court, was finished to the west that September. The neighborhood was filling in on all sides, and Zavala was right at the center of it. By the 1940s, the school was determined to be one of four Austin schools that were excessively overcrowded.

Another addition was completed in 1947. Layer by layer, decade by decade, Zavala Elementary became an anchor for federal programs in the area. And today, that twelve-room brick schoolhouse, grown and added onto, keeps right on serving the educational and community needs of the neighborhood.

Lorenzo de Zavala signed a declaration, helped build a republic, and died in 1836. Somewhere along the line, a school full of children decided to carry his name forward. That's not a bad kind of legacy.

What the marker says

In the 1930s, a rapidly growing Latino population caused the joint decision of the Austin Independent School District and Austin City Council to plan a separate facility for children attending Metz Elementary School. Austin architects Giesecke and Harris and San Antonio builders M. C. Falbo & Sons were chosen to build a 12-room brick schoolhouse in December 1935. The $42,935 cost was paid for entirely through federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. In 1936, as Texas commemorated its centennial of independence from Mexico, the school was dedicated to Lorenzo de Zavala, the only native of Mexico to sign the Texas declaration of independence and vice-president of the Republic of Texas. He had died in 1836. The school opened in the fall and was officially dedicated on October 21, 1936. In March 1938, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt approved another PWA project, Santa Rita Courts, as the first federal housing project in the nation. The subsidized housing project was built directly east of the school, with Giesecke and Harris and Falbo & Sons selected for its construction. In March 1939, a request to the school board to build an addition to the school to accommodate new students culminated in additional PWA funding. Santa Rita Courts were completed in June 1939, and a companion project, Chalmers Court, was finished to the west in September. Zavala's enrollment expanded again, and in the 1940s, Zavala was one of four Austin schools determined to be excessively overcrowded; another addition was completed in 1947. Zavala Elementary became an anchor for federal programs in the area. The school continues to serve the educational and community needs of the neighborhood.