E Schools                         D, E Places                                                                 Empire

Empire College - Copeville

Near this site operated an important early area school. North Carolina native J. E. “Tarheel” Jones started a public subscription school in 1883 in the Empire community. Jones was the first teacher at the school first called Bear Creek Academy. The second floor of the two-story frame school building was a meeting hall for Masonic, Eastern Star and Knights of Honor Lodges. Subjects taught included Latin, mathematics and music, and a dormitory was later built. The Empire community declined when area railroads bypassed the site. The post office closed in 1888, and the Masonic Lodge moved to Nevada. The College closed in 1890, and the Bear Creek School continued at the site. The Empire College building burned in 1914.
Texas Historical Marker 2009