Burkeville in Newton County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Blum Male and Female College

(200 Feet Northwest)

Photographed by James Hulse, December 19, 2025

1. Blum Male and Female College Marker

Inscription. Chartered February 26, 1880, by 36 incorporators; named for Leon Blum, Galveston merchant, largest holder in $20,000 capital stock - $5 per share. First directors were: R.J. Brailsford, H.J. Casey, W.W. Downs, W.A. Droddy, T.W. Ford, M.D. Hines; first president was Joseph Syler.

Pupils ranged in age from 5 to 50 years, those under 12 met in downstairs of 2-story building; older pupils and adults met upstairs. Average enrollment per term was 100 resident and boarding pupils.

School "took up" at 8 a.m.; closed at 4:30 p.m. Students entered and left school by lining up - boys on one side and girls on the other - a division which continued inside the school room. Lessons were recited on a recitation bench; all tests were oral, often an occasion for community gathering. Subjects offered besides the 3 R's were: philosophy, latin, grammar, algebra, history, geometry, rhetoric, and geography. Friday afternoons were devoted to spelling matches, recitations.

A well in school yard furnished water, most students brought lunch from home in a tin bucket which was covered with a lid ventilated by nail holes.

Soon was called Burkeville School, and after expiration of college charter on February 20, 1905, the building served that purpose until torn down in 1912.

Erected

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

1967 by State Historical Survey Committee. (Marker Number 11101.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Women. A significant historical date for this entry is December 31, 1942.

Location. 30° 59.886′ N, 93° 40.25′ W. Marker is in Burkeville, Texas, in Newton County. It is at the intersection of State Highway 63 and State Highway 87, on the right when traveling west on State Highway 63. The marker is located 100 feet west of the Highway 87 intersection with Highway 63. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 141 TX-63, Burkeville TX 75932, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Piney Woods.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Republic of Texas,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Cade Building (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Round Table Inn (about 600 feet away); Original Site, Burkeville Methodist Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); Burkeville Church of God (approx. ¼ mile away); Site of the First Court House of Newton County (approx. 0.3 miles away); Tanner Cemetery (approx. 1.2 miles away); Woods Cemetery (approx. 2.1 miles away); Wiergate (approx. 2.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Burkeville.

Also see . . . Burkeville, Texas: History and Economic Development. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)

Burkeville is at the intersection of State highways 87 and 63, seventy
Photographed by James Hulse, December 19, 2025

2. Blum Male and Female College Marker
The view looking towards the west at the marker.
miles northeast of Beaumont in northeast Newton County. John Burke, for whom the town was named, laid out the plots in 1844, although settlers had apparently been in the area for some time. Upon discovering that Quicksand Creek, the place where the court officially first met, was not at the true geographic center of the county as was formerly supposed, Burkeville citizens petitioned in 1847 for their community to become county seat. Burkeville secured the honor in 1848, and an election the following year confirmed its position by a narrow 86–82 margin. The county courthouse, paid for by subscription, was located on a small tract donated by John Burke. The courthouse question was reopened, however, in 1853, when another election made Newton, a newly established settlement at the geographic center of Newton County, county seat.

(Submitted on December 20, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)

Photographed by James Hulse, December 19, 2025

3. Blum Male and Female College Marker

The view looking towards the east at the marker.

Credits. This page was last revised on December 20, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 20, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 63 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 20, 2025, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.