George Washington Carver School, 1939, Keller

On these grounds in 1939, Henry Ford built a school to serve the educational needs of the African-American children of lower Bryan County. Professor Herman Cooper was appointed as the Principal when the school opened later that year, originally with grades one through six. Ford named the school in honor of the prominent African-American educator and agriculturist from Tuskegee Institute, Dr. George Washington Carver. In March 1940 Dr. Carver attended the dedication ceremonies here for the new school named in his honor.

The shell of a gymnasium is located at the back of the property, but I’m unsure if it was a later addition to the school, or part of the Bryan Neck Missionary Baptist Church, located next door.

 

Bryan Neck Missionary Baptist Church, Keller

Organized in 1869, this is the oldest African-American church congregation in lower Bryan County. The first structure for the church, a Prayer House, was built in 1870 on this site near the white Presbyterian Church (Burnt Church). London Harris, a freedman and spiritual leader of the local black community, was one of the organizers and first pastors for this church. The church was renovated and enlarged with support from Henry Ford at the time the nearby Carver school was built in 1939.

Text from historic marker placed by Coastal Bryan Heritage Trail

Bryan Neck Presbyterian Church, 1885, Keller

This congregation was first organized around 1830 by prominent Bryan Neck rice planters including Thomas Savage Clay, Richard James Arnold, and George Washington McCallister. The first church building was constructed three miles from this location in 1839. Its adjoining burial ground is now known as Burnt Church Cemetery. The present church, built in 1885, is the oldest public building in Bryan County.

UPDATE: I made the images seen above in 2011. Visiting in January 2013, I rephotographed it and noticed a sign had been placed on the front of the building (below).

National Register of Historic Places