Corsicana Female Institute

Schools Index

CORSICANA FEMALE LITERARY INSTITUTE. Corsicana Female Literary Institute, in Corsicana, was established in 1857 and first housed in the Navarro County Courthouse. The school moved from the courthouse when a new two-story, cedar-log building called "the academy" was constructed. The lower part of the building was used for education during the week and for church on Sundays. The upper floor was used by the Masonic lodge. Tuition in 1860 was $10 per session for junior classes, $12.50 for middle classes, and $15 for senior classes. Latin or French cost five dollars more, and music with instruments was twenty-five dollars extra. The charge for room and board was between eight and ten dollars per session. Around 1870 the school's stockholders sold the property to the Masons.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Annie Carpenter Love, History of Navarro County (Dallas: Southwestern, 1933). Memorial and Biographical History of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone, and Leon Counties (Chicago: Lewis, 1893). Alva Taylor, History and Photographs of Corsicana and Navarro County (Corsicana, Texas, 1959; rev. ed., Navarro County History and Photographs, Corsicana, 1962).

Julie G. Miller

"CORSICANA FEMALE LITERARY INSTITUTE." The Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/CC/kbc44.html