‘Where history happened’: Alumni of segregated East Texas school work to restore building

RUSK COUNTY, Texas ( KETK ) – In Mount Enterprise, Concord High School alumni are working to restore the rich Black history of the school.

The walls of the school, originally built in 1925, still stand. The building had four rooms with sliding doors that would convert it into an auditorium for events or funerals.

Concord High School was the only school in their area where generations of young Black students could get an education before integrating into Henderson ISD in 1971.

“My mom was a 1936 graduate of Concord. I have four older brothers and they all graduated here and of course myself in 1966,” Alpheus Moss, Concord High School Alumni Association President, said. “Then I had two younger brothers, one graduated in ’68, and my baby brother ended up going to Henderson in 1971.”

The school, its gym and another building sat on five acres of land. In 1971, Moss said Henderson ISD acquired the land and sold 1.2 acres to one person and 3.5 acres to another, where the school was located.

Owners of the land decided to tear down the gym and the other building.

In 2008 alumni bought the 3.5 acres from the property owner to one day fix up their beloved school. Decades went by and now with help from Preservation Texas, a nonprofit that helps preserve cultural heritage, and the Texas Historical Commission, the alumni can enter phase two of their restoration project.

The Texas Historical Commission, matched a $30,000 grant in May 2024 to level the foundation.

“This project is part of our Texas Rural African-American Heritage Grants Program, where we’re providing up to $75,000 in matching funds to rehabilitate at risk rural, historic African-American buildings,” Conor Herterich, with Preservation Texas, said.

Moss said decades of damage have taken over the building and funding will restore the roof, floors and walls.

“In 2005, the hurricane came off the gulf coast and did a lot of damage to the tin roof, when the tin roof came off the water was able to penetrate the building in certain areas and rotted the ceilings and the floors,” Moss said.

The Concord Tiger’s are accepting any grant or donation to that will help turn the school into a museum.

“Hopefully that we can hold classes and demonstrations to teach people what happened here in the last hundred years. There’s a lot of history here,” Moss said.

By restoring the school they hope to house all of the hardship and memories but also show future generations how far their community has come.

“It’s one thing to go to a museum and see an exhibit or read a book about something. It’s something else to actually step into a building where history happened,” Herterich said.

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