COLITA ACADEMY. Colita Academy was in Louisiana Settlement,^qv at the site of present Colita in Polk County. The school was founded about 1870 and had a two-story pine building. It was officially nonsectarian, although Baptists were its chief supporters. Principals of the Colita institution included J. M. Pearson, Helen Lawson, a Professor Thomas, Rev. Kit Williams, Thornton Walker, and a Reverend Weymouth. Pupils ranged from seven to twenty-three years of age. Faced with competition from a growing public school system, Colita Academy was closed in 1894.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Aline T. Rothe, History of Education in Polk County (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1934). Carl Bassett Wilson, History of Baptist Educational Efforts in Texas, 1829-1900 (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, 1934).

Robert Wooster