Captain Joseph A. Tivy, a Canadian born in 1818, settled in Kerr County about 1870. He served as Kerrville's first mayor and as a Texas legislator. He surveyed most of the Kerrville area and gave land for a city park. In 1890, he gave 16 and 2/3 acres for a school on this site and 100 acres to be sold to build and furnish the school. Classes began October 1891. Among the early students was Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. The native stone building was severely damaged by fire in 1942 and the facade stuccoed. This building housed Tivy High School until 1967. (1978)