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“The
Most Modest of Buildings”By
Mary S. Black
Illustratrated with photographs from the book
by Bruce F.
Jordan
From
“Early Texas Schools:
A Photographic History”
(2008, UT Press)
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| One
thing photographer Bruce Jordan and I learned as we researched “Early Texas Schools:
A Photographic History” (2008, UT Press), is that over the past 150 years, school
buildings in Texas have run the gamut from ostentatious, to modest indeed.
One of the most beautiful buildings we found is the Morris
Ranch School, in Gillespie County. The cut limestone structure complete with
bell tower was built in 1893 by a wealthy horse breeder for the children on the
ranch. The school had sliding interior doors to create a flexible space, and a
stage for plays and recitations. The building also doubled as a church on Sunday.
No expense was spared for this center of the small community. Today the building
is a private country home about eight miles outside of Fredericksburg. |
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| Another
example of outstanding schoolhouse
architecture is the red brick Bertram
Elementary School in Burnet County. Arched doorways and a gleaming white bell
tower give this substantial building a formal appearance. The community experienced
a boom in cotton production when the school was built, and spared no expense.
Classes have been held here continuously since 1909. |
| The
Jacobean brickwork of old Palestine
High School shows the fine craftsmanship that created this building in 1916. Anchoring
one side of a green city park, this dark red brick structure now serves as the
Museum of East Texas Culture. This building demonstrates that cities and towns
can build beautiful architecture that serves the area for a hundred years or more,
when adequate funds are available for schools. |
| Not
all communities in Texas had the financial assets,
or have them even today, to build such fine public buildings. In the small town
of Langtry
near the confluence of the Pecos and the Rio Grande in southwest Texas, a wood
frame school with a tin roof was built when the railroad stop made the community
thrive for a few years. When the railroad quit stopping there, most of the families
with children moved on as well. Today the building is used occasionally for community
functions. |
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| Schools
for black and brown children in Texas suffered the
most from lack of funding. For example the two-room Lampasas
Colored School constructed of stone in 1923 went 25 years without indoor toilets.
Although the school did have a modest stage, it had no kitchen until around 1948,
and still lacked athletic fields when the school was closed in 1963 due to integration
with the all-white school a few blocks away. Today the townspeople, both black
and white, have refurbished the old schoolhouse and count it as one of their important
historical buildings. |
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There
are many other examples of outstanding school
architecture across the state, and almost always these were built in a booming
local economy. The reputation for modest school
buildings was generally substantiated by small, rural schools or those for
minority children. Some schools were built by parents by hand from materials donated
for the project. In some cases, students and teachers themselves turned carpenter
or mason to erect an academic edifice. Many schools
were built on donated land. One thing all schools
had in common, however, is that they were built with hope. And today they still
are.
Published
with permission
Publisher: UT Press, 2008 | |
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