The Oldest Elementary School In Texas Also Has A Cemetery on Campus

It's back to school season and while some Texas students will be attending classrooms built in brand new schools, other students will be learning in buildings that are older.

Texas has some very old, historic schools. Some of the oldest schools in Texas date back to the 1870's and they have character and history. Of course, all elementary schools have classrooms, playgrounds, and a cafeteria. But one Texas elementary school has something much different in addition to those rooms.

Eanes Elementary School Is The Oldest Elementary School in Texas

Eanes Elementary located in Austin, Texas was established in 1872. That's over 150 years old. According to the website Mom's Who Think, Robert Eanes was the builder of the school, which when it was first built, was just a one room log cabin. After 2 years, the location of Eanes Elementary was moved to it's current location. According to KXAN, Eanes Elementary School is the oldest continuously operating elementary school in Texas.

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Eanes is also unique because the art building was first built to be a chapel according to Mom's Who Think. But that isn't the craziest part of Eanes Elementary School. According to KXAN, Eanes Elementary has a cemetery on its campus. Yes, a real cemetery. If that doesn't make it unique, I don't know what does.

“William and Sophie Teague [then] gifted to the community two acres of land for a school house and a church house…148 years ago now, as part of the church, a cemetery was offered and established for the community [members] without a family cemetery or those travelers who were going West still in uncovered wagons in that time,” Balthazar explained.

According to KXAN, there are markers for at least 30 bodies, but it's possible there are more buried in the cemetery. School officials say students are taught about the cemetery, the history, and why we memorialize people.