Davilla’s Rosenwald School Has a New Owner by Joy Graham

Milam County Historical Commission
Milam County, Texas

Davilla’s Rosenwald School Has a New Owner

Milam History by Joy Graham

Rockdale Reporter - May 23, 2013

Rosenwald School building in Davilla has a new owner. After several months of

researching deed records, and Milam Appraisal District records, the school was

confirmed to be located on Lot or Block 164 in Davilla.

The lot was owned by Central Texas Annual Methodist Conference in Fort Worth since

1888. At their annual conference they voted to sell the Davilla property to members of

Hill-Fontaine Shelby Association a non-profit association.

Rosenwald School was built in 1924-25, just north of the Methodist Episcopal Church of

Davilla. Northeast of the school is the Davilla Black Cemetery.

The confusion came about when the Milam County Historical Commission began searching

for the location of the school during its Certified Local Government Survey in 2005.

The deed found during the 2005 survey was a Nov. 11, 1913, deed filed by Milam County

lawyer E. A. Camp as the result of his search for a lost deed for a black school in the

Davilla area in 1913.

That deed was signed and filed in Milam County records in Volume 158, page 168 on the

5th of February 1921.

This deed lists a school located on Lots 16 and 17 that are located southeast of Block

164 where the Rosenwald School was built eight years later and still stands today.

Hill-Fontaine-Shelby Association is in its beginning stages of restoration. When

completed, it will serve as a Davilla community center.

Resdents in Davilla said the old A.M.E. church was sold to someone from Salado several

years ago and thought it was restored into a business building there.

If you’re a history buff,this is a good lead on learning more about history in the

Central Texas area.

Fisk University houses Rosenwald School records, as does Texas Historical Commission,

History Division in Austin.

maryjoygraham@yahoo.com

All credit for this article goes to
Joy Graham
and the
Rockdale Reporter