Historic Orr School among sites targeted by $1.5 million EPA grant awarded to ATCOG

TEXARKANA — The Historic Orr School, a 145-year-old landmark tied to ragtime composer Scott Joplin, could take a significant step toward new life after the Ark-Tex Council of Governments was awarded a $1.5 million EPA Brownfields Assessment Coalition Grant to evaluate contaminated and underutilized properties across the region.

The Orr School, located at 831 Laurel St. in Texarkana, Arkansas, is one of five priority sites named in ATCOG’s grant application. The others are a former medical office in Omaha, the former Booker T. Washington School in Atlanta, the former Paris Regional Medical Center and the former De Kalb City Hall property.

The competitive grant will fund environmental assessments, cleanup planning, reuse planning and community engagement in the cities of Omaha, Paris, Atlanta and De Kalb, Texas, and Miller County, Arkansas. ATCOG will serve as the lead agency and plans to conduct 15 Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, up to nine Phase II assessments, three cleanup plans, four area-wide plans and one site-specific reuse plan.

“This award represents an exciting opportunity for our region,” said Mary Beth Rudel, ATCOG executive director. “Brownfields sites often present significant challenges for communities, but they also hold tremendous potential. With this funding, ATCOG and our local partners can help communities better understand environmental conditions, develop plans for redevelopment and position these properties for future investment that supports economic growth and improves quality of life.”

Brownfields are properties where redevelopment may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants. Environmental assessments funded through the grant are typically the first hurdle a historic property must clear before restoration or reuse can move forward.

One of Texarkana’s oldest schools

Built around 1880, the Orr School is believed to be one of Texarkana’s earliest public schools — and one of the first free ones, at a time when families typically paid for their children’s education. It served the city’s African American community and sits on Laurel Street in the heart of what was then a thriving Black neighborhood and commercial center.

The school is the only surviving building in Texarkana connected to the life of Scott Joplin, the “King of Ragtime,” who lived nearby and attended the school as a boy. Originally a two-story structure, the building was reduced to one story in 1920 after fire damage, when its hip roof and Craftsman-style window details were added.

The City Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs of Texarkana purchased the building from the city in 1958 and still owns it today. Over the decades, the building has served as a low-income daycare center and a community ministry. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and also appears on the Arkansas Register of Historic Places.

Preservation efforts already underway

The Brownfields grant arrives as momentum builds around saving the aging structure. The City Federation has been working to restore the building and return it to community use, and in 2025 the group received a Field Funds grant from A Blade of Grass, a New York-based arts organization, to collect oral histories from former students, educators and neighborhood residents.

Local historians Dr. Laura Sikes and Jamie Simmons are helping lead that effort, gathering memories and memorabilia to document the school’s cultural legacy — including from surviving former students, some of whom recall the building being pronounced the “R School.”

Residents with photos, written memories or memorabilia connected to the Orr School can email [email protected], call or text 903-884-8093, or mail items to the City Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs of Texarkana, P.O. Box 182, Texarkana, TX 75504.