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CENTER POINT,
TEXAS
Texas Ghost
Town
Camp County, East
Texas
FM 2057
9 miles SE of Pittsburg
Population 0
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The
Center Point School
Photo courtesy Erik Whetstone, 1-23-05 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Center Point was originally settled by emancipated slaves in 1865.
The crossing of two major roads is the source of the name. The community
had built a church by 1873 and a school followed in 1889. The rest
of Center Point's history is directly related to the school's history.
From a one room school in bad condition in 1900, it was a two teacher
school eight years later. Public bonds sold in 1916 financed a four-room
school and the Julius Rosenwald Foundation donated a library and nearly
$6,000 for construction.
By the 1935-36 school year it was regarded as one of Camp County's
better schools. Nine of the school's ten teachers had at least B.A.
degrees, and, the average teacher's salary was higher than that at
any other Camp County school. During the Great Depression the population
started shrinking and in 1938 the Center Point High School was down
to 78 students. In 1955 Center Point merged with the Pittsburg
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