Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 76 of 264
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PAGE TWENTY—SECTION B
PUBLIC SCHOOL HISTORY
(Continued from Page 19)
AMARILLO SUNDAY NEWS AND GLOBE. AMARILLO. TEXAS
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY EDITION, 133B.
One prominent citizen of AmarlUo
today declares that Mr. Rosser was a
good school man and an excellent
teacher, another declares it was ut-
terly impossible to attend the public
school and Mr. Rosser could teach
nothing. Be that as it may, many
the older pupils dropped out, a
p lvate school was opened, and there
were no graduates at the end of
the year.
Lon D. Marrs became county
Judge in 1896 and served until 1904,
giving him 8 years as ex-officio
county superintendent of schools.
R. L. Stringfellow was among the
trustees for the 1898-97 term, with
O. B. Staples principal, and Musses
Annie Hendricks and Annie E. Bak-
er new teachers.
All the country schools had new
standardize the course of study, but
this caused some confusion. Too
heavy a course was given in some
subjects and others were entirely
omitted. He handled the situation
fairly. It was thoroughly explained
just what must be done to bring
the school up to standard,, and ev-
eryone began working toward that
end. Because of this change of
courses there were no graduates of
the Amarillo schools for two years.
Soon after school opened in Ama-
rillo it rained—again!
Three new trustees waded in th'«
mud for a way out. They were M.
C. Nobles, George Wolflin and B.
T. Ware.
As the term wore on and th«
spring term began it rained often.
Seemingly from many sources the
solution came; who thought of It
first is not known, but on all sides
There were eight rooms In the
!. 'lding with an unfinished third
story.
There were some troubles, how-
ever, for a news item in the Amarillo
News of August 31, 1900, stated that
an election was held yesterday to
v le $8000 additional bonds for com-
pletion of the city hall—or rather,
the schoolhouse. The election car-
ried. Of course, it was planned to
lav the new school building com-
pleted for the opening of school
Red Brick, even before it was com-
peted, and even before stoves were
set up.
"The new brick school building
was occupied last Monday, but a
recess is being taken today so that
stoves and curtains may be placed."
The four rooms downstairs were
caught by Lillion R. Collins, Emma
Scales, Matilda Sayles and Don
Crossett, while Professor Gee and
Emma Tutlous had two rooms of the
sec d story. Before the term end-
building that was planned for 500
children was now caring for 700.
• • •
To meet this situation and also to
provide a schoolhouse within walk-
ing distance of younger children,
two-room frame schoolhouses were
built in North Amarillo and on
Johnson Street.
New teachers coming to Amarillo
schools during the period 1901-02
through 1904-05, were E. L. Dohoney,
Malcomb Moore, Bessie Clark, Hor-
teaehers. Randolph Carter at Spring i the same thing was heard. "Let's
Grove, James Logue at Liberty, and a cUy hall Rnd lpase lt to the
Mis. Myrtle Puckett at Independ- . school board for a schoolhouse."
ence. ...
It seemed to be the custom in the agjtation to incorporate was
town schools then to change teach- | on ancj ^[s time, because an in-
ers almost every year. There was . foj-pofated town could vote bonds
a new principal in the fall of 189., for a cj^y )lan jf not for a school,
W, B. Howard, assisted bv W. P . (j,e town was again incorporated to
Bo who next year succeeded him. gpj cnndren out of the mud.
a:.d Susie Gulledge, Cora L. Halt j ^ Stringfellow was mayor of
and S. M. Voting. , ,, Amarillo and the deeds to the lots
.'here was only one change in the were macje t0 an(| his succes-
country schools, Lelar R. Price in { sors (n office The pntire 12oo block
District No. 3
R. L. Davis succeeded Mr. Boyd,
who taught one year. It was a year
of much rain; some former pupils
even declare they swam in the lake
around the school house. Again the
citizens were aroused by the neces-
sity of getting the school house out
of the mud. But what could be
done? Texas laws did not then per-
mit a town to vote bonds for erect-
ing school buildings. The situation
seemed hopeless.
between Polk and Tyler was pur-
chased, and the north half of the
1300 block, it being planned to close
Thirteenth street between Polk and
Tyler. These blocks were divided j jn September but there were delays,
into four square lots, each 150 by '
i
150 feet. The city purchased three
lots from W. H. Bush for $125.00.
Mr. Bush in reality donated two
lots to the city, as $125 was a fair
| price for one of the lots. Two lots
were bought from J. M. Dickey for
| $250 and the east front, corner
, lot at Twelfth and Polk was sold
There are many citizens of Ama- by H A Cobles f0r $i60. Total pur-
rillo who attended school under cjjase prjce was $535.
IVofessor Boyd, and all speak of jg o£ juterest to many Amarillo
him as a good school man, square : pCOpie to know what disposition was
in his dealings. The clock and spit macje 0f Jlie old school building after
ball story illustrates his fairness. I
T iere was a large clock in the
school room. The board had paid
Phil Seewald, the jeweler, $10 for this
clock, and uncons-'ous'y, Mr. Boyd
had the habit of often comparing
his watch with the clock. One day
the principal was called from the
room. As was his habit he placed
he pupils on their honor. When
hi returned everyone was in his
seat and all were studying. Pulling
1 jt his watch as he glanced at the
clock, Mr. Boyd was amazed to see
the entire face of the large clock
covered with spit balls. Nothing
was said until school was over for
the day, when he requested each
pupil to pass through his office—a
desk in the clock room—on the way
out.
To each one the question was put,
>id you throw spit balls on the
clock?" All gave the same answer
until the last boy came. Not know-
ing that each boy had answered "I
did not throw any spit balls," this
youngster answered, "yes."
"Well, I am glad you said so,"
Mr. Boyd exclaimed, "but there's
not a boy on earth that has that
much spit all by himself. You mai-
ls >•"
Country schools for the year 1898-
P9 shewed that the county was set-
tling up; two new schools appear
and the names of the old schools
were changed. This changing the
name of schools was common in the
early days. On the teacher's war-
rants, which were filled out each
month, was a blank space for the
name of the school. This was often
filled out at the teacher's fancy.
Once more the Amarillo school be-
gan its fall session in the old build-
ing, but there was no complaining
now; it was rather a joke when it
rained and everyone had to wade
out.
To care for increased enrollment
six teachers were employed for the
new year. There were only five
rcoms in the old building, but Mr.
G^e aranged for the older boys and
iirls to study at home, with one half
AMARILLO'S FIRST HIGH SCHOOL, new the Johnson grade school, a block east
of the Municipal Auditorium.
ed Miss Sayles resigned and Isa- tense B. Plemons, Irene Chester,
bel Martin was employed. Alice 'ce Jones, Mrs. L. F. Woodward,
, ... , . , _ Rosa Taylor, Lizzie EpplT, Annie
™ substitute tpflchpr' '.'enable, Laura Nelson Rosa Cole.
The new building gave plenty o.r j^jrs p y Allen and Laura V. Ham-
room and the course of study had ner.
been standardized; Amarillo schools Sam R. Merril was elected county
progressed rapidly. J ^ ln I90* and served for eight
In the schools of District No. 2 'f>ars-
and 3 there was little change, and , Amarillo made a forward step in
, her school system early in 1905,
tl buildings often were in need of frrmin(; the Amarillo Independent
repair. Naturally, teachers who be- School District on May 22. Trustees
gan their work in the country of the new district were R. L.
schools got better positions as soon Stringfellow, president of the board,
as thev could. This explains the -Newcome secretary and col-
almost, yearly change of teachers. £ Lf ""^^ware''m"" c'
Within the terms dating from 1900- | Wale' M' C
01 to 1904-05, the names of 12 teach- NobIes and T. Booth.
ers who had never taught in the After much discussion of the
county before appear, and they ! problem of obtaining more room for
shifted among the county schools j school work. Amarillo voted to crect
during the period. New teachers
were Annie McDonald. Nettie Hitch-
cock, Mary Potter. Bernice Russell,
Dixie Baxter, Maud Crossett, Lucy
Elliott. Belle Coleman, Emma Mar-
tin, Lela Blackshear, Addie Marriot,
and Jettie Patterson.
$65 each; two ward teachers re-
ceived $55 monthly and seven grade
teachers were paid $50. Lizzie Ep-
pler was princiapl of the hgih school
and Mrs. F. B. Allen the North
Amarillo school.
Schools were badly crowded that
fall, but lt did not see", so bad, for
every one knew It was for the last
year. By next summer the fine
brick high school would be com-
pleted.
Soon after the opening of school
a great day came to Amarillo. The
first really big circus came to town.
The trustees voted to suspend
school on October 11th so that the
children might attend the For-
prugh and Sells Circus.
The new high school building,
contained four large rooms on the
ground floor, five ln the upper story,
and the basement had several rooms
for the ward pupils and an office
for the superintendent. The halls
were wide, the cloakrooms nice. But
best of all the building was steam-
h ted.
Fa'' term of 1908-07 saw W. B.
Quigley principal of the high school,
Miss Alma Bales principal of the
North Amarillo ward, and L. B.
O.-mble was at the head of the Red
Brick. W. M. Green was assistant
to Mr. Gamble.
* • •
It was not long after school
. opened in he new building before
the cry arose, "We are freezing," |
and that was repeated for several
years while the contest endurance
between the school board and the
heating contractors was waged. On
certain days when the wind was
especially high or when there was
a sudden drop ln temperature, the
teachers and pupils often remarked,
"And we thought we had steam
heat." Minutes of trustees meetings
for a number of years show that
the question of heating the build-
ing was always up for discussion.
Although the new building was
Automotive
Among the oldest of the automo-
tive stores in Amarillo is that of
E. B. Meyer, at Sixth Avenue and
Harrison Street.
Mr. Meyer, whose business slogan
Is "Everything for the Auto," open-
ed his business here 12 years ago.
His place then was located at Sixth
and Van Buren Street. After five
years there, he moved to his present
location.
Starting with only four employes,
Mr. Meyer has doubled his person-
nel in the time he has been in busi-
ness here.
As an extra aid to Ills patrons. Mr.
Meyer keeps a record of cars serv-
iced. He employs a lubrication spe-
cialist who has no other duties.
He has been operating a budget
sales department for something
more than a year and finds this
convenient way to give added serv
Ice to his customers,
E. B. Meyer handles Miller tires, j
Texaco gasoline. U. S. L. batteries Mnl
and Belmont radios.
He maintains road service for his
customers.
While Mr. Meyer is engaged pri-
marily in the automotive business,
he owns a two-section ranrh near
Ashtola where he raizes registered
Hereford eattlc as a hobby.
fellow St Hume business, Mr.
Thomas came to Amarillo ln 1906 to I
manage the new venture. In 1907 |
he returned to Roswell and Mr.
Morrow took over active manage- |
ment in February of that year. Mr.
Seay came with him.
The first store was located at
Sixth and Polk Streets from 1906
to the fall of 1907, when the present
store and warehouse were built.
Mr. Seay recalls there was a va-
cant lot between the new building
and the frame Amnrlllo Hotel,
which since has been removed to
make way for the present brick
hostelry. , „
Mr. Morrow died in 1912, and Mr.
Seay lias been in active charge of
the business since that time.
The present organization employs
45 persons in the retail store, office
and warehouse.
Makes History
Growth of Johnson Grocery f?.
ket, is as phenomenal as the
i growth of Amarillo.
In 15 years J. W. Johnson has
made business history in Amarillo.
It was in 1923 that Mr. Johnson
opened a fruit stand at 708 Taylor
i street He and Mrs. Johnson inn
the business. Today there Is a staff
of approximately 25 men and wom-
en required to serve the customers
-"dst and
Radical Move
Hardware men ridiculed H. R., . . , .
Morrow for having the audacity to ! fon}_ modernis tic ^1 on^
believe he could operate a wholesale
hardware business in Amarillo.
And the move was a radical one
back in 1907 when the hardware
wholesale firms were centered in
the midwest and had things just
about where they wanted them for
themselves.
But Mr. Morrow went right, ahead
hard to heat, the trustees saw to it w''th his plans, and today (lie Mor-
$25,000 high school ouilding June
1', 1905. It was decided to erect this j
new high school ln the best residen-
tial section of the city, so an entire
block at Fifth and Johnson was se-
cured. O. G. Roquemore was chos- j
en by the school board as architect
that the children were out of the
mud. November 5, 1906. Professor
Wells was given authority to pur-
chase a sufficient number of two
by fours and have them laid to form
the edges of a walk at the new
high school, the walk to be made of
cinders.
"Upon the resignation of R. B.
Newcome as tax collector Frank
Ong was chosen for the position.
.' marillo independent schools had
$'1,922 36 as of April 4. 1907. Two
new trustees began serving that
year. W. E. Gee and L. A. Wells.
Mr. Wells had resigned as superin-
tendent of schools and the board
was then considering his successor.
row-Thomas Hardware Company at
316 Polk Street sells wholesale in
an area, with a radius of 300 miles
and embracing the tri-state sections
of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexi-
co.
The history of the business is in-
teresting.
at one of Amarillo's large
most complete markets.
Now Johnson Orocrry & Market
at. 411 West Seventh Avenue, the lo-
cation to which the Red ft White
store moved last February, has a 65-
The store
is 90 feet deep and another 50 feet
is required for the stockroom from
which all orders are filled.
In 1930 Mr. Johnson joined Red
ft White and since 1933 he has en-
joyed a full 100 per cent increase
in business.
It was in December of last year
that he had his best business. Jan-
uary of this year was even 25 per
cent better than December of last
year, and business in this semi-
service store, divided equally be-
tween cash \nd carry and credit
and delivery, continues to increase.
A Red & White house journal,
published recently, calls Johnson
Grocery & Market "the most mod-
ern Red ft White food store in
America." The article is Illustrated
dozen pictures of the
business, including pictures of the
In October, 1906, the Thomas
Hardware Company bought out the1 half a
firm of Stringfellow ft Hume in business, 1
Amarillo. But pilous toth.p^ ^ ^
had owned the 1 - of refrigerator case,
b^Ln5^'-,.laVi"g „P'"',Chw„ for the large meat volume.
I Many members of the Johnson
Grocery ft Market staff have been
- mmmm .
THEY DIRECT POTTER COUNTY SCHOOLS. The
gentlemen of the board, reading left to right, are Carl
G. Clifft, Allen Early, John Detten, J. G. Dowse, J. W.
Cheney and George Menke.
the new brick schoolhouse was fin-
ished. On April 24, 1901 and on
May 6, 1901 deeds were recorded
from Lon D. Marrs. county judge, to
C. B. Vivian and A. L. Frisbee, sell-
ing the entire block for $1000, each
paying $500. Mr. Vivian took the
north half of Block 103
Addition, and Mr. Frisbee
coming to recite to him in the back
of the large room every morning
and the others coming in the after-
noon. Having two groups reciting
in the same room caused some con-
fusion, but it was unavoidable.
During the same period
were five trustees in the
schools, W. A. Campbell, A. L. Berry.
F. L. Davidson, J. C. Brinkham and
F. M. Hill.
Following Mr. G^e as principal,
E. L. Dohoney came in 1901-02. Mr.
Dohoney was in very truth a Texan,
his father having been a member
of the Constitution^ convention. He
was also known as the "Father of
Prohibition in Texas." Mr. Doh-
oney served as assistant state super-
intendent of education under Annie
V'ebb Blanton some years after
teaching in the Amarillo schools,
and he was also first registrar at
Texas Tech in Lubbock.
Soon the cry for more room came
again. The Amarillo Champion car-
ried an editorial July 17, 1903. stat-
ing that ; was high time Amarillo
jj C. C. Faster was employed as school
' j superintendent, but only served one
there ! anti the contract was let to W
......1 Rice,
1 I vcar
Although to be used primarily as ! ' g R Fjsh „ proniinpnt ]awver of
a high school, the new building also j Aman|lo todBV succeeded Mr. Quig-
contamed rooms for a ward school. ,p princjpal of thp high srhool.
and was planned to do away with ; A, npw teachers in the Ama-
the frame building then in use S(,hoo)s wprf, Ann,p MrDonll,d
L. A. Wells was elected first Rr,.nk.p „ and thp, Japkscn
superintendent of schools in Ama-
rillo, and his salary was set at
$1500 a year.
From minutes of trustees meet-
ings of 1905 it was learned that the
principal of the high school re-
ceived $75 monthly; assistant prin-
chase Mr. Morrow
same
the hardware firm of R. H. Mc
Alpin. A short time later he had
sold this business to Stringfellow
and Hume—so in the 1906 purchase
he actually had bought back his
original business. He was the first
agent of the Fort Worth ft Den-
ver Railroad when he entered the
hardware business here.
Prior to entering business here,
Mr, Morrow had been in the hard-
with the store for several year*
Loyal to their employer, the sale
force is energitic and courtcus
Mr. Johnson, a shrewd student of
human nature, has faith not on'--
in the future of Amarillo but also in
the public. In four years the crcdt-
loss at Johnson Grocery f: Market
has been only one-tenth of one per
It was decided to add Spanish to
the study course for the fall term
and Miss Elizabeth Janka was em-
ployed as teacher.
Schools became crowded again
that year, 1907-08, so three small
cipal $60; the two ward principals 1
(Continued on Page 21)
ware business in Roswell, N. Mcx., cent..
with several associates, including I "Johnson Grocery f- Market will
F.d S. Seay. father of D. P. Seay. continue to grow with Amarillo
present manager of thp business. e\en if it continues to be one of
J. W Thomas, a former hardware! ' ><• fastest growing cities in Texas,"
salesman in the Gainesville, Texas, j sa'd Mr- Johnson.
area, bought into the firm, the Ros- J ... „ , . ...
„ itii ocsn Charles Goodnight: A eatalo hide
well Hardware Company, with asso- (fR mnr„ beau(iful lhfln R buffalo.R It
elates about 1905 shines like glass and the hair J.3
With the purchase of the String- | Pven >•
A news item in the Amarillo News, : -
Plemons °f November 1, 1900. tells the story : considered her school problem, and
chose °f how the pupils moved into the • continued to say that the brick
the south side. The school building
was then torn down and the lumber
divided. Two modern five-room
residences were constructed, Mr.
either by some favorite name or by 1 yivian building at 801 Van Buren
the name of a trustee. _ and Frisbee at 809 Van Buren.
District No. 2 had two schools rlle residence at 801 was later mov-
that particular y<iar, the Esparango, j pd to Johnson Street and destroyed
and the Hall and Arnot School. ^ firp Mr p^bee sold his house
Warrants were signed by Joseph ^j^rk Logan who moved it to 314
Hall and John Arnot. Teachers West Ninth Street. The residence
■were Miss Bertie Noland and Miss lt. stm standing at this location,
Edna McGee. some 0f the lumber of the original
District No. 3 also had a new sch0olhouse in Amarillo showing in
j its walls and Is in good condition.
With the announcement of the
lots secured for the new school-
house, the protests began. "Why
build the schoolhouse way out in
the country? Why don't they Just
go to Canyon? The town will never
grow out that far."
seem far out.
school but it was not named. The
three teachers were Donald Mc-
Donald, Mary Burrows and L. C.
Kersey.
Trustees In Amarillo, or District
No. 1 were R. L. Stringfellow. N.
Connally and C. M. Hardin.
At the close of school in 1899, Mr.
Boyd took the school census and an-
nounced that there were 284 scho
Indeed it did
and there was not a
lastics in the county, not counting re^detnr^tes^el^ted the site be-
the small number of negroes, too
few for a school.
Judge W. E. Gee came to Ama-
rillo as principal in the fall of 1899 j
and taught for two years. Teach-
ing with him were R. L. Davis. M. L.
Williams, and Annie Hendricks and
Annie Baker.
Professor Gee attempted to
lt
the school site.
;ed the site bc-
■•as possible to secure a
cause
large piece of ground there.
All Amarillo watched the building
o. the Red Brick, for so the build-
ing was always called, and all Ama-
rillo was proud of the fine school-
house, the only brick schoolhouse in
the state north and west of Quanah.
tWMA-TI*
For 20 Years
we have featured
INDUSTRIAL PAINTS
Always fresh. One day service can be given on 50 to 10O gallon
orders. We feature railroad, oil field, manufacturing, and in-
dustrial paints, house paint,, barn paint, bridge paint., highway
marking paint, aluminum paint and a complete line ot var-
nishes, enamels and stains.
CLIMA-TIZED
PAINTS
Tailor - Made
For Your
Climate
We appreciate when you specify
CLIMA-TIZED PAINTS
Made in Amarillo
Hunsley's Inc.
THE HOUSE OF COLOR
"CLIMA-TIZED"
Paints — Enamels
Artitt Supplies—Wallpapers—Picture framing
Hunaley Bid*. 113 K. 6lh. Amarillo, Texas
PA«*T$
QUALITY HOI*
OUTSIDE WAIT*
TALMAGE PLACE
APARTMENTS
AMARILLO'S ONLY
FIREPROOF
APARTMENTS
A RESIDENCE ADDRESS
OF DISTINCTION
SINCE
i,. * .
57 SPACIOUS APARTMENTS •
COMPLETE MAID SERVICE •
UP-TO-DATE BEAUTY PARLOR •
SOUND-PROOF FLOORS AND WALLS •
70-CAR GARAGE WITH ATTENDANT •
TALMAGE PLACE
APARTMENTS
1401 Van Buren St
AMARILLO, .... TEXAS
20 YEARS'
REPUTATION for RELIABILITY
When the partnership of Ordway - Saunders
Companywasformed in 1918,a definite policy
of building for the future was decided upon.
Ethical service formed the foundation for this
policy . . . giving the customer the
amount of insurance to suit his needs.
most reliable companies, known for
proper
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de
square
ealing, fair and prompt claim adjustment.
O. C. SAUNDERS
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PUBLIC LIABILITY
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BURGLARY
WIND STORM
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AUTOMOBILE
SPECIAL OIL FIELD INSURANCE DEPT.
GEORGE ORDWAY
ORDWAY - SAUNDERS CO.
General Insurance (Except Life)
328-31 AMARILLO BLDC. - AMARILLO, 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/m1/76/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.