{"nrhp_refnum":"83004514","name":"Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls, Administration Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"803 N. 4th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Crockett","county":"Houston County","state":"TX","lat":31.327504868500057,"lon":-95.4615574748714,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-05-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick administration building of the Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls (later Mary Allen College), built in 1886 on a hilltop about one mile north of the town square of Crockett, Houston County, Texas.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is one of the oldest structures in Crockett and Houston County and an uncommon surviving Second Empire educational building in Texas. It represents Presbyterian efforts to educate Black girls and women in rural East Texas and reflects the growth and decline of Black education in the area, as the school moved from white to Black administration and from seminary to junior college to four-year college.","narrative":"Crowning a hill a mile north of Crockett's town square, this four-story brick building served as the administration hall of Mary Allen Seminary for Colored Girls. Completed in 1886, it is a French Second Empire design, with a mansard roof, a projecting entrance tower, cast-iron lintels and hood moldings, and a central staircase inside. The Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen founded the school, naming it for the late wife of the Reverend Richard Allen. Over the years it passed from white to Black administration, became a junior college in 1933, and a four-year Baptist-run college in 1945 before closing in the 1970s. Hurricane Carla in 1962 destroyed the top of the tower and the upper roof stage, and many dormers and chimneys were lost. The building is now vacant, though a 1982 architect's report found no significant structural damage, and early photographs could guide restoration. No architect or builder has been identified.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1886)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"French Second Empire","criteria":[],"status_note":"Vacant and deteriorated, with roof openings and missing window panes, but the form states there is little indication of structural jeopardy. Hurricane Carla in 1962 destroyed the upper tower and mansard stage.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.520293-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/16/9726/40972616/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/83004514.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004514/e4ca9dc0e0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004514/e4ca9dc0e0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MaryAllen1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MaryAllen1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972616","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Allen_Seminary","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6778823"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/houston-county/mary-allen-seminary-for-colored-girls-administration-building-83004514/"}