Pleasant Hill School
Why it's listed
Pleasant Hill School is a small wood-frame schoolhouse built in 1925 in a rural farming community northwest of Linden, Texas. It follows Community School Plan #20, a standardized two-teacher design promoted through the Rosenwald school-building program. The building has a symmetrical front with a projecting gabled bay, two entry doors, white clapboard siding, exposed rafter tails, knee braces, and large multi-pane windows. Inside are two classrooms once divided by a movable partition, plus a third room used as a kitchen and sometimes a classroom. The school cost $3,450, with contributions from the African American community, public funds, and the Rosenwald Fund. It opened with two teachers and about seventy students and closed in 1964 as the county's Black population declined. Only two of twenty-three Rosenwald schools built in Cass County are known to survive. The site also retains a playground and storm shelter. It was listed for its role in education and African American heritage, and for its architecture.
Significance in brief: It is an excellent, largely unaltered example of a Rosenwald two-teacher school, the most common plan type built in Texas. It reflects the Rosenwald school-building program and African American education in rural Cass County, where only two of twenty-three Rosenwald schools are known to survive. It is also significant for its architecture.
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 04000891, listed August 20, 2004. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 2722 Farm Rd. 1399, Linden |
|---|---|
| County | Cass County |
| Listed | August 20, 2004 |
| Reference number | 04000891 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1925-1954 |
| Architect / builder | unknown |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and early 20th Century American Movements: Craftsman |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Black, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Owned and maintained by Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and used sporadically as a community center; the building is currently not in use, has a roof leak, termite signs, and boarded-up windows. |
| Acreage | 1.3 |
| Coordinates | 33.05315, -94.39621 (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 04000891.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7203875
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.