Near Pecan Gap in Delta County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Giles Academy

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 2, 2026

1. Giles Academy Marker

Inscription. Early settlers, who came to this area from Giles County, Tenn., founded an academy at this site in 1859, hired fellow-Tennessean Thomas Hart Benton Hockaday (1835-1918) as the first teacher, and named the new school in memory of their southern Tennessee homeland. Hockaday taught at Giles until his enlistment in the Confederate Army in 1862, and after the Civil War for several years before moving to Fannin County in 1870s. He presented a curriculum emphasizing arithmetic, reading the classics, and uses of the English language. (His daughter, Ela Hockaday, (1876-1956), founded the well-known Hockaday School for Girls in Dallas in 1913.) School expenses, including teachers' salaries, were paid by parents of the students.

A small community center, with a blacksmith shop, general merchandise store, and church, grew up around the large log schoolhouse. After the organization of common school districts in Texas in 1883, the Academy became Giles School, District No. 4. The old log house was replaced with a frame structure in 1886. A more modern building, erected on this site in 1924, was badly damaged by a tornado in 1936. The

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Giles School never reopened, and its students were distributed between the Ben Franklin and Pecan Gap schools.

Erected 1973 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 6937.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1859.

Location. 33° 27.368′ N, 95° 47.568′ W. Marker is near Pecan Gap, Texas, in Delta County. It is at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 128 and County Road 3500, on the right when traveling east on Farm to Market Road 128. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Pecan Gap TX 75469, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American 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 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies:

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 2, 2026

2. Giles Academy Marker

Site of Hockaday Homestead (approx. 4.6 miles away); Site of Fort Lyday (approx. 5 miles away); Dial United Presbyterian Church (approx. 5.3 miles away); Cooper Rail Depot (approx. 8.1 miles away); Nathaniel L. Corbet (approx. 8.2 miles away); The Texas Livery Stable (approx. 8.2 miles away); First National Bank (approx. 8.3 miles away); Original Site of East Texas Normal College (approx. 8½ miles away).

Credits. This page was last revised on September 17, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 17, 2026, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 8 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 17, 2026, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.