Oak Valley School

Oak Valley was one of thirty school districts created in Navarro County in 1867 by County Judge John L. Miller and a committee composed of E. G. Melton, John M. Bright, L. H. Dunham, J. C. Wells, J. M. Quinlan, and G. W. Foster. Classes were not held, however, until the 1870s after a new constitutional provision allowed for the levying of taxes for public education. During the late 1870s a one-room schoolhouse was constructed to serve the surrounding rural area. In 1894 an acre of land formally was deeded for free public school purposes by the Garner family. The Garners sold an additional acre of land to the school in 1905. By 1919 enrollment had reached nearly 100 students, and a new, two-room schoolhouse was built to accommodate the growth. Thirty years later, the school was annexed by the Corsicana Independent School District. For more than seventy years, Oak Valley School provided free public education for the children of this area. Many of the students went on to Corsicana for further schooling. Oak Valley produced a number of schoolteachers and military servicemen. The history of Oak Valley School provides a significant link to the beginnings of a public school system in Texas.

Oak Valley School is a historical marker in Corsicana, Navarro County. It is one of 128 historical markers documented in Navarro County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 218 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.0635, -96.4985 near Corsicana. The nearest cataloged historic site is Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include J. A. Megarity Homestead, 15th Texas Infantry Companies E and G, and Corsicana State Home.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5349007240. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.