Marion, a German settlement founded in 1877 as a marketing and shipping point for the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad, established free public schools with land and a $3,000 donation from T.W. Peirce. The first schoolhouse was built in 1878, and in 1917 a brick building facing Cunningham Street replaced it. In 1938 a third building was constructed by the Works Progress Administration. As student enrollment increased, the grades were divided among three schools, and the community continued its tradition of strong support for the district schools.