Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 74 of 264
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?AGE EIGHTEEN—SECTION B
AMARILLO SUNDAY NEWS AND GLOBE. AMARILLO. TEXAS.
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY EDITION 1338,
Amarillo and Potter Schools Build Rapidly From Meager Beginning
County Sells
School Board
Building to
for $5
By HERBERT AND CAROLYN
TIMMONS
Note—In searching lor records of
early schools In Potter County, it
was found that the records of the
first county judges, who acted as
«t-officio county superintendent of
ichools, are lost. Early county treas-
urer's records of school expenses
are also lost, but the canceled war-
rants Issued to teachers and for ex-
penses of the schools were located.
These teachers' warrants expressly
stated the name of the tcacher, dis-
trict where school was taught,
and the month for which payment
was made. Expense warrants of each
district stated for what the pay-
ment was made.
All teachers arc listed and build- |
ings and additions noted according
to these warrants paid by the coun-
ty treasurer.
Onp of the first arts of the newly
organized Potter County commis-
sioners' Court, with J. J. Sella, J. T.
Holland, John Gillespie and H. T.
Cornelius as commissioners, and
County Judge w. R. Plemmons art-
ins: as rx-offirio county superinten-
dent of schools, was to appoint
committee to choose four leagues of
school land for Potter County.
Commissioners court records of
October, 1888, tell that Ed Sturdi-
vant and J. T. Holland, the com-
mittee, had carefully Inspected the
land and recommended the choice
of Leagues No. 113-114-115-116 in
Cochran County, Minutes of the
next meeting showed that the gov-
ernor of Texas had been advised of
the choice and the desired land as-
signed.
There was no monfy available for
a public school the first year of
Amarillo's life, but a private school
w-as taught by Miss Lizzie Bain and
one also by Miss Susie Andrews.
Among those attending Miss An-
drew's school were Cal Cornelius,
Dave Pendleton, Bessie Pendleton,
Crissie Creamer, Drucilla Havden,
Mai and Hugh Moore.
The commissioners court and the
citizens of Amarillo were alert to
the needs of schools, however. Court,
records tell that an election was
held June 8. 1889, to levy a spe-
cial tax of 15 cents on the $100
for school purposes. Election judges
appointed to serve in the different
precincts were C. B. Vivian, in Pre-
cinct No. 1, with voting to be at
the court house; W. B. Pottinger
at. Precinct. No. 2, Lee V. Hayden,
t)< the Frying Pan Ranch in Pre-
cinct No. 3, and John Bell at the
LX. which was No. 4. Fifty-three j
votes were vast in favor of the spe- i
cial tax and four against it.
This special tax was good, but |
It. did not solve the problem of a
school for the year 1889-90. The
State Board of Education informed
Potter County officials that there j
was $2.216.44 allotted to them for
school purposes. This was sufficient !
to pay salary and expenses, but
there was no building.
• * *
The building situation was happily
solved, however.
The very first act of the commis- j
sioners court, when they were or-
ganized in 1888 was to order a tem- ■
porary court house constructed. I
Specifications for this court house j
called for a. boxed weatherboarded ;
building 40 by 24 feet, to be erected j
at a cost of $191 on lot 15, block
25, original town of Amarillo. Lot
15, block 25 was purchased bv the
county for $125, but the deed wa.s
not recorded until October, 1888.
Now when Amarillo's permanent
court, house was completed in 1889,
the school board, composed of B.
B. Hayden, chairman; J. H. Ham-
lin, secretary and William Harrell,
saw their opportunity. They met
July 13, 1889, and voted to offer
the county $5 for the temporary
court house building. The commis-
sioners accepted the offer and or-
dered the property transferred. This
offer was only a formality, of course.
In reality the county gladly donated
the building to the school board and
no warrant for five dollars was
found that paid for the building.
With the resignation of W. B.
Plemmons as county judge in the
summer of '89, the schools, net as
yet organized, also had a new
head. D. N. Quinn was appointed
county judge and acting county
school superintendent.
As soon as it was learned that the
school board had secured the old
courthouse building, the agitation
between the "Old Town" and the
niture for the school. The freight
bill on the furniture was paid in
December and was $30.35, while
Frisbee Bros , were allowed $10 for
setting the fixtures.
All was now reanr for school.
Coleman G. Witherspoon, known
over the Panhandle as "C. G." an(
to early Amarillo pupils as "Profes-
sor Witherspoon," was employed as
first teacher at a salary of $75 per
month for a seven-month term.
Warrant No. 1 for C. G. Wither-
spoon showed that srhool opened
i in September, as it was paid for
I the month ending October 4th, 1889.
Mr. Witherspoon was a good
| teacher. The large room was nnl
too crowded, and often the lids blew
off the barrels that John Murphy
filled with water, but in those days
—as now—a little dust did not mat-
ter, or even a few tumbleweeds did
not ruin the water.
Canceled warrants again tell us
I a story. Evidently the air con-
j ditioning plant was not functioning
new school year should revert to
the state. Early trustees never al-
lowed that to happen; if there was
any money left, a summer school
was taught.
Mrs. Ella Croon was in charge of
the summer school, and was as-
sisted part time by Miss Eula Trigg.
Their work was somewhat inter-
rupted by the noise of saws and
hammers, for the building was im-
proved during summer.
Ever since the Potter Coun-
ty commissioners had received word
that the four leagues of land in
Cochran County had been allotted
to Potter County, they had been
s king a purchaser for the land.
Records of April 30, 1 ,90, show it
was sold to H. M. Spaulding of
Denton County for $1.50 an acre.
Terms were one-fourth cash and
the balance in equal payments over
20 years. The cash payment
amounted to about $7,150, and notes
totaled $18,000.
INEXORABLY. EVEN WHILE POSING for its picture, the oM school hell towers
over the children whose lives it dominated for a jrood part of the year, at least—
in Aniarillo's long ago. And spraddling out to swallow them up, so to speak, two
of its four additions are clearly visible in this picture of the first schoolhouse in
Amarillo. It was first erected in Old Town as a temporary courthouse.
W. P. Boyd, the principal, stands at the extreme right. Cora L. Hart, Susie
Gullege, (Miss) S. M. Young and R. L. Davis, teachers, stand among the children.
"New Town" centered around the
school location. Already the town
was moving east. The trustees de-
cided the school should be centrally
located, so block 103. an undivided
block in the Plemons addition to
the town of Amarillo was pur-
chased as a site for the public
school. The same amount that was
paid for the first site of the build-
ing, $125, was paid for the entire
block. The selection of the school
block must certainly have been
made during a dry season, for un-
knowingly the trustees purchased
grief and trouble for years to come.
There has been much discussion
during recent years as to the exact
location of Amarillo's first school.
Block 103 is between Eighth and
Ninth streets, between Harrison and
Van Buren, now the block on which
Mcllroy's, Inc., is located.
The trustees employed W. L.
Bowers to move the building for
$70. John Beavers repaired it, and
S. B. Livingston painted it.
Dates on the warrants for pre-
paring the building for school use
are all the same, Dec. 24, 1889, but
notations on the checks all tell that
the work was done in the summer
It was the usual thing in the early
days for the school trustees to have
no money until taxes were paid in
the fall. Warrants were issued and
either held or discounted for cash.
* « «■
The general merchandise store of
Burns-Walker and Co., in Amarillo.
had to wait until Feb. 4. 1890, for
their payment of $157.05 on the
note they had personally given to
; J. B. Vervin Supply Co., for fur-
properly, for Ford, Weakly John-
ston. of Decatur, was called on to
repair the ventilator during the
winter.
As the snows melted in the early
spring there was some trouble, for
the school was located in a de-
cidedly flat place. Thp water got
up pretty high, but lh boys put on
their rubber boots and carried the
girls across the mud and slush and
the water did not get too high that
year.
The last warrant of the school
year was for only part of a month,
as school closed March 21, 1890. It
was often necessary for the schools
to close early because the money to
pay teachers vas exhausted. But
this wa.s not the case in Amarillo,
as a summer school wa.s taught.
Perhaps Mr. Witherspoon had
other business, it is not really
known why the school closed early.
Texas school laws of the 90s de-
clared that any monies left, in the
local school fund at the start, of a
I Ar was required by Texas law,
the cash payment for the land was
placed in Potter County's pprma-
nen school fund, and interest on
the money made over to the avail-
able fund.
• • •
An election was held in Amarillo
June 7, 189(1, for school trustees.
The Amarillo Champion carried the
fo' wing notice: "There will be held
in the sample room of the Anex
of the Amarillo Hotel, in Potter
County, Texas, on the first Satur-
j day of June, same being the 7th
day of June, an election for three
trustees for schools of Potter Coun-
ty."
The election placed H. H. Brooks
| a:d H. T. Cornelius on the board.
Evidently one of the last acts of
I the first school board was to build
! a fence around the school property.
I This was paid for June 6, 1890. Many
tales are told about this fence. It
had a flat board on top, and made
a fine promenade for small boys.
Oh, of course, in passing each other
on the fence, a boy sometimes ac-
cidentally lost his balance and
tumbled off, but the fight that en-
sued only added zest to the day.
I stead oi gates to be always left
opei the fence had stiles, one on
the east—for the building faced
the east—and one on the north. The
stiles were delightful places to sit
and talk, but when they were cov-
ered with ice—well, some former
pupils now declare that the safest
w j to get over was to crawl, or at
least to "walk half sitting down."
Amarillo was growing rapidly at
this time; the school census taken
early in 1890 showed that more
teachers and more room must be
had for the fall term
It was decided to build an addi-
tion on the north stde of the school
house. While this was being done
the old building was renovated and
_iled, and the partition that di-
vided the back part of the build-
ing into two rooms was removed.
The partition between the front
and back rooms, however, wa.s not
huilt any higher than it was when
the building wa.s used as a tem-
porary court house. This parti-
tion only reached head high and
mai.e a delightful place to throw
paper wads across.
G. A. F, Parker, manager of the
M. T. Jones Lumber Company, was
paid $819.39 or materials used In
he building, and Julian Frisbee wa.s
Issued a warrant for $135 for "work
done on the school house."
T. L.. Simpson, who was home-
heading north and east of Ama-
ri o, was employed at, a salary of
$100 a month. Misses Gillian Farley
and Rowena Boyd were assistants,
each receiving $50 monthly. Mr.
Simpson only taught in Amarillo
for cne year and lived on the plains
but a short, time, but early day
citizens recall him as 'pretty bald,
and wearing a heabeard."
Some teacher of the Amarillo
schools was sick a great deal that
second year oi resigned before the
end of the term, for both Mrs. B. E.
Gort and G. T. Dulany were paid
for services as teachers in District
No. 1, School No. 1., during the
term Mrs. Gore was the wife of
; Dr. Gore, an early-day physician.
Mr. Dulany, who had lost an arm.
! later taught in the schools of the
country. He made his home with
. Judge Plemons and drove a horse
! branded W H K.
School matters ran smoothly that
year. The ducks that landed on
j the lake around the school house
quacked so loudly it sometimes
j bothered the teachers, but not the
i .students, and one day all the older
j boys were tardy when they chased
a coyte. Otherwise, there were no
serious disruptions.
The older boys made a decided
improvement n the floor plan of
the "big room" soon after school
opened, ,hus remedying « fault that
had caused trouble during the first
year. About halfway back and close
to the wall, was a large knothole
In the floor. By persistent efforts
the boys pushed the knot out, and
this gave an adequate hole to spit
tobacco quids through, some Ama-
rillo citizens of today declare.
Texas did not provide books for
e cloth covers on them. No later
warrants were issued for books for
some time, then a warrant stated
"payment is for balance due on
Encyclopedia."
With the close of school in sum-
mer, the trustees again planned for
Increased enrollment. A payment
for lumber was made to M. T.
V"
AMARILLO'S BOYS WERE NOT NECESSARILY
BACKWARD then, as you might think after a glance
at this picture of the first graduating class of Amarillo
High School, but in 1894, when the photograph was
made, there were too many things more exciting than
education to hold the interest of frontier boys. Per-
haps that is why they are not shown in this scene, l'nr
it is recorded that a number of them in those days at-
tended school only after they had inspected the teach-
er. If they approved of the general set-up, they went
to school—for a time at least. If not. they either went
back to punching cattle or found some other more
congenial work—or play.
M. I). Ramsey was the principal at the time this
picture was made.
Reading from (he left, standing are Mary X.
Brookes and Eula Trigg, now Mrs. W, D. Twitchell;
left, sitting. Daisy D. Martin, now Mrs. Thomas Currie,
and Flora McGee.
schools in the '90s, but the school
board paid Gunn & Co. the sum of j
$90.82 for books that year. Pupils
of fi few years later recall a set of
r,ference books that showed snm'
wear in the school house. The
girls took thp books home and sew
Jone- Lumber Co., August 26. 1890,
and the warrant stated "payment
for lumber for building addition to
the so . side of school building."
i This warrant was not to be cashed
until Jan. 1. 1892. Three new school
1 t.r st.ees were in charge of schools
in 1891, Dr. T. F. McGee, W. H.
Sawvcl, and W. H. Fuqua.
• *
When the new furniture came for
the addition, Jake Ixmilller hauled
it to the building. He also freight-
ed "appara, lses for the school
Along with the charge for "ap-
paratuses," the board spent $4.50
for "statuary."
Amarillo was growing and the
country around was also being set-
tled. This called for country schools.
Commissioners ;ourt records state
that school District No. 2 of Pot-
ter County was formed in June,
1891 with its east line what is noV
Western Avenue. The district
reached the Canadian River on the
north, and was oounded by county
lines on both the west and south.
Trustees for District No. 2 were
P. E. Golather. Marion Armstrong
and J E. Land is, but both Mr.
Armstrong and Mr. Landis were re-
placed in a verv short time, John
Arnot, and Joseph Hall taking their
places.
The trustees evidently purchased
a building or had one donated for
the first expense warrant issued by
the new district was made in pay-
ment of moving the building. Forty
dollars was spent for lumber and
William Joiner was paid $10 for
work on school house. Seats and
a stove were installed in the build-
ing.
The next warrant, showed that
shovel, scuttle, broom, bucket and
dipper were purchased, then coal,
and all was ready.
District No 2 school opened in
September, with G. T. Dulany. th
man who drove a W H K horse
and who had only one arm. as first
teacher at $65 monthly.
Spring Grove School, the name
chosen for the new school, was
near Cliffside. east of the water
tank and on the east side of the
creek.
The school in town had new
teachers that fall, and again there
was an increase in salary, for W, r
Woodson was paid $150 a month ?
principal. Other teachers were Mi*"
Pine Dorris and Miss Margaret.
Summers.
AH the teachers of 18.91 are re
called by many Amarillo people to-
day, and it was for Miss Margaret
Summers, later Mrs, Wills, that the
Margaret Wills School was named
Many tall tales are told of the
days when Professor Woodson wj
principal. The school was crowded
—not enough seats—and "playing
hooky" was a great sport, especial]"
among a certain group of boys, who
avow now that they almost (ro7
that winter as they hid in beds of
new wagons behind the Bardelabcn
Hardware Store until it was time
to go home in the afternoons. An
other fine place to spend the time
while playing hooky was on the
fence at the shipping pens when
rattle were being loaded. On"
; drawback to this place, however,
was that a weather eye had to be
, kept for stern fathers, who also
I liked to watch cattle being loaded.
| Sometimes when the winds got too
cold the truants played between
(Continued on Page 19)
We Pay
rib ate
to the
Catholic
Pioneers
who had such a
big part In the
history of this area
~"t~ +
Sacred Heart
Cathedral
Amarillo, Texas
Pi
oneers in
V
osp
18
S
ervice
here since 1900
, lu...
f.« 8
nm
m
-A modern hospital fully approved
by the American College of Sur-
geons and operated by
SISTERS OF CHARITY OF THE
INCARNATE WORD
St. Anthony's
Hospita
P
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D
u r o
—Bfl''
zzszz-:
1
S wjjf m V $
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w lafi
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"t tf -v J
The Most Historic Spot on the Plains
And the Most Beautiful
Palo Duro State Parle is the scene of Colonel Goodnight's first dugout, of
Coronado's pieturesgue expedition headguarters, of General McKenzie's fight, the
last with the Indians. It is an archaeologist's paradise, a vacationist's dream and
becomes more popular each year with visitors at home and abroad.
Excellent auto roads, trained guides, pure water supply, cabins, every possi-
ble convenience for your pleasure await you in Palo Duro State Park.
Mod ern cabins on the rim, hot and cold water, toilets and showers, electric
lights. Rustic stone cabins in the Canyon. Chicken dinners in Coronado Lodge.
Admission, 20 cents for adults, I 5 cents per car and 10 for children.
PALO DURO STATE PARK
13 Miles East of Canyon, Texas
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Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938, newspaper, August 14, 1938; Amarillo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299921/m1/74/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.