Article About old School

The Kemah School

The first "official" school house in Kemah was constructed in 1912. The citizens of the community went to the polls and passed a $2000 bond for the building of a one-story structure. At that time, Galveston County operated the school under its jurisdiction. It was located on the northeast corner of the Kemah Park on Highway 146. The Kemah Community Center is now located on that site.
Kathleen Bradford, granddaughter of the Kipp/Justice union, and Eva Mae Swinney served as two of the first teachers in Kemah. 
The next addition to the Kemah School facility was a one-room building constructed in the summer of 1946 beside the original two-room structure. The faculty included Miss Nadeline Sellars (1936), 1st and 2nd grade, Mrs. Evan Swinney Rice (1943), 3rd and 4th grades and Mrs. LaVace Stewart (1926) 5th-6th and principal.
The building was vacated in 1949 when the faculty and students moved to the new location on FM 2094. The Kemah School was renamed LaVace Stewart Elementary in 1965.
The present building was moved on Highway 146 in 1950 and has housed a hardware store, an art studio and a boat shoe store.
It has been moved to this location in 2005 to become a Kemah Historical Museum and Visitor Center. 

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