Webberville Negro School was held in the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church on 1314 Weber Street in Webberville, Texas from 1868 to 1967. Webberville Negro School was run by Webberville School District which was known as School District No. 32. Students from the Hornsby-Dunlap School and Bastrop County often attended Webberville Schools after completing 5th grade.
The Webberville Negro School was divided into two departments.: Primary with Mrs. Lydia Scales as the teacher for grades 1 through 4 and Intermediate with Mrs. Effie R. Edwards as the teacher for grades 5 through 8 for the Webberville School.
White landowner Matthew Duty donated one acre of land for a church and school for the recently freed African Americans in the year of in 1868 shortly after emancipation. Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church was established on the property the same year. His handwritten deed indicated that “as long as there are any members of the church, the land cannot be sold.”. Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church was organized that year as a mission church of the St. John Regular Missionary Baptist Association.
Webberville Negro School originated in the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in 1870 where both church and school were held. Webberville Negro School was a one-teacher school educating grades 1 through 7 and later 8th grade. The school and church had no indoor plumbing or lunchroom facilities. Both church and school were held at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church.
By the early 1920s, Webberville School had a baseball team. The baseball even had “husband and wife teams”. Teachers even participated in the baseball team. By the 1920s, Webberville Schools had 200 to 300 students attend school each year.
The Webberville Negro School became a 1-8 school in the 1930s. School stopped after 8th grade. Students who wanted to continue onto high school were sent to attend Manor Colored High School in Manor, Texas, Littig High School in Littig, Texas, or simply attended high school in Austin, Texas.
During the 1930s, The Webberville Negro School was divided into three departments.: Primary with Mrs. Lydia Scales as the teacher for grades 1 through 4;, Intermediate with Mrs. Effie R. Edwards as the teacher for grades 5 through 8;
During the 1934-1935 school year, Webberville School (Webberville Negro School) had 67 students with an average daily attendance of 40 students. There was one teacher for 67 students. The cost per year for each student was $659 with an average of $16.25 per student per year. The teacher taught grades 1 through 7, and later 8th grade, for 146 days.
By the end of the 1950s is when Webberville Negro School (Webberville School) ended as a two teacher school. At one point, there were two schools on the property.
The Hornsby-Dunlap School and Hornsby-Dunlap School District consolidated into the Webberville School District in 1952 with students now attending both Webberville Schools including Webberville School. Hornsby-Dunlap School continued to operate under Colorado Common School District #36.
After the consolidation of Hornsby-Dunlap School in 1952, a fundraiser was held to purchase visual-aid equipment and a movie projector. A bus was purchased to transport the children to Webberville from the Hornsby-Dunlap community in the same year. However the school still had no indoor plumbing or lunchroom facilities.
The Webberville School was integrated for a short period of time. However Webberville Schools were segregated by choice and by law. By the 1956-1957, school year, Webberville School became slowly integrated.
Sometime in the 1960s is when Webberville White School moved into the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church which housed Webberville Negro School. Webberville White School moved into a school building located southwest of the church. The schools were located on the same property once again. Another school building was built for Webberville Negro School housing grades 1 through 8. That other school building.
In 1967, the Webberville School and Webberville School District were consolidated into Del Valle Independent School District (Del Valle ISD). Due to racial integration and school district consolidation, the Webberville School closed down during the 1967-1968 school year.
Webberville Negro School (Webberville School) closed in 1967 ending as a two teacher school. The school was given back to Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church. The Webberville Negro School building was a separate structure southwest of Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church until after 1973. The original school building of Webberville Negro School was added to the church in 1973. The side-gabled wing of church building was the original school building of Webberville Negro School.
Webberville Negro School is located 1314 Weber Street, Manor, Texas, US 78653.
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