Site of Rincon/Douglas School

In the aftermath of the Civil War, the resolution of issues associated with education of newly freed slaves influenced the nature of Southern education well into the 20th century. The federal government established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands to coordinate the transition from slavery to freedom. Among the more visible of the Bureau's programs was the organization and building of schools. The first free public school for Blacks in San Antonio was built on this site in the late 1860s. Operated by the local office of the Freedmen's Bureau, the school was a two-story stone structure. Called Rincon School because of its location on Rincon (now St. Mary's) Street, the school provided instruction to students of all ages. It was the only Bureau school in Texas to receive support from a local government. The City of San Antonio assumed operation of the school in 1871, adding it to what eventually became the San Antonio Independent School District. The name was changed to Riverside School in 1890, and to Frederick Douglass School in 1904. Ten years later the school was relocated to a two-story brick building at what is now 318 Martin Luther King Drive. An important part of the city's history, Rincon/Douglass School has been integral to the heritage of a large portion of San Antonio's population. The early example established by the Rincon School and similar schools played a fundamental role in defining the nature of the segregated school system in Texas and at the same time inspired support for universal public education in the South. (1989, 2010)

Site of Rincon/Douglas School is a historical marker in San Antonio, Bexar County, dedicated in 1989. It is one of 236 historical markers documented in Bexar County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 503 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.4300, -98.4925 near San Antonio. The nearest cataloged historic site is Builders Exchange Building (historic place), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Havana, The, Lee, Robert E., Hotel, and Garcia-Garza House.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5029004269. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.