Garland Community School Teacherage
Why it's listed
Built in 1923 about 2.5 miles west of Dekalb, this one-story Craftsman house served as a teacherage for the Garland Community School in Bowie County. It is a wood-frame building on brick piers, with weatherboard siding, a hipped roof with wide eaves, a gabled porch on the east side, and an L-shaped plan with four bedrooms, living and dining rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. Funding came from the Julius Rosenwald school building program, which supported education for African Americans in the rural South. Only two such teachers' homes are known to survive in Texas. The Garland community was founded shortly after emancipation by formerly enslaved families, and the teacherage gave teachers housing in an area with few options for them. It also became a social and civic center and set a building standard for nearby homes. Teachers lived there until about 1950. The house is now vacant, uninhabitable and awaiting stabilization and restoration.
Significance in brief: It is one of only two known surviving teachers' homes in Texas built with Julius Rosenwald Fund money for African American education. It is nominated under Criterion A in the areas of Education and Ethnic Heritage: African American. It housed teachers in a community founded by formerly enslaved families and became a social and civic center for the area.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 02000146, listed March 6, 2002. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | TX 2, 2.5 mi. W of Dekalb, Dekalb |
|---|---|
| County | Bowie County |
| Listed | March 6, 2002 |
| Reference number | 02000146 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1923-1951 |
| Architect / builder | unknown |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and early 20th Century American Movements: Craftsman |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Black |
| Level of significance | State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as presently uninhabitable and in need of roof and foundation stabilization; the owners' family is developing a preservation plan and seeking a grant to restore it. |
| Acreage | 1.9 |
| Coordinates | 33.51622, -94.66997 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 02000146.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q110000242
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.