Texas Schools from 1850 to 1950 as pictured old school yearbooks and newspapers. This was life in Texas schools as our parents, grandparents and ancestors experienced  it.

Huge crystal clear photo of the Childress Texas High School band in 1939

Five young women and one young man in the Quanah Texas High School class in 1906. The two young women on the left are identified as Blanche and Beulah Greene

Roaring Springs School in 1927

In 1927 all the students and their teachers in Roaring Springs Texas turned out for this huge photo

Fourteen graduates of Roaring Springs High School posed for this wonderful photo in 1927

19 boys and 6 girls posed with their teacher for their 1930 -1931 third grade class photo in Big Lake Texas

Very clear composite of Lockney High School Senior Class with readable names

From the youngest to the oldest, these were the children attending school in Lockney Texas in 1912 with their teacher. Ruby Jewell Harper is identified in the top row sixth from

Fourth grade class in 1941 in Burnet Texas. Wendell Lee Tarver is the only child yet identified in this old photo. He is on the front row, second from the right.

27 Children from the first grade class in Burnet Texas in 1938. The boy on the far left has been identified as Wendell Lee Tarver

Oakalla School Class Photo in 1900

Very nice class photo of the students and staff at the Oakalla School in Oakalla Texas in 1900

Lone Star School in early 1900s located midway between Claude and Panhandle Texas

In the 1920s a man posed with two little girls in Vega Texas posed in front of the Vega Independent School Bus

22 children from Clarendon Texas posed with their teacher for this wonderful class photo in 1911

The kids at the Bangs Texas public school were going a bit wild in this photo from 1909

Public School Alpine Texas

In the early 1900s the public school brought out their students for this class photo in Alpine Texas

Sometime in the 1940s two kids posed in from of a Frenship District School bus in Wolfforth Texas

Twenty nine children with their teachers in Quitaque Texas in 1929

1928 Class Photo in Quitaque

Thirty one children in Quitaque Texas posed with their teacher in 1928 for this wonderful old class photo

Class Photo in Quitaque in 1929

In 1929 twenty three children posed with their teacher in Quitaque Texas for their class photo

1923 Floydada High School Graduating Class

The Floydada High School graduating class consisted of 19 young women and five young men. Also in photo teachers and school officials

Littlefield School Truck in 1923

In 1923 Eddie Davis built this "School Truck" for the city of Littlefield Texas. A school truck was a truck converted to a bus for the purpose of transporting school children in rural areas to and from school.

Rice Ranch Community School Children

Located near Dundee Texas, The Rice Ranch Community School children posed for this wonderful class photo in 1912.

So many students in Fluvanna Texas in 1910 it took a huge wide-angle photo to capture them all

Originally Published as Dead Javelinas Are Not Allowed on School Property

By Charlena Chandler

Charlena Chandler of Midland is a retired teacher and a very good writer. In Shakespeare on the Pecos she captures the essence of small town schools in West Texas in this delightful foray into the relationship of teacher and students . . .  Read more Look inside

Crystal clear photo of West Texas State Normal College with an early car and horse drawn wagon as it was in 1916

One- and two-room schools represent a time in Texas history when a child's school term was based on the local crop season and family duties received priority. They were the center of educational, social, political, and religious activity, where children were taught reading and math, couples were united in marriage, funerals were preached, and Friday night socials were held..." Read more

Lincoln School: Andrews, Texas 1950 - 1961  

Lincoln School served black students in the community of Andrews, Texas. It was opened in 1950 until desegregation led to the school's closure in 1961. This book looks into the history of the school along with the faculty and students in attendance . . .  Read more Look inside

Sometime in the early 1920s thirteen students crowded into the school bus in Ropesville Texas while one stood on the runner for their ride home from school

Liberty Hill School in 1902

In 1902 twenty four boys, and twenty three girls posed with their teacher at the Liberty Hill School in Williamson County Texas. 1902 twenty four boys, and twenty three girls posed with their teacher at the Liberty Hill School in Williamson County Texas.

Menardville School Class of 1890

Professor John Warren Hunter, from Mason, opened the Menard school September 6, 1884. Menard County was exempt from instituting a district school system until the 1890s This large photo shows 44 students and the staff from class of 1890. . . . See full size photo here

San Angelo Collegiate Institute as it appeared in this post card in 1928 with students milling about on the grounds and a horse-drawn wagon on the lower left

In this rare photo of the class room of the State Juvenile Training School in Gatesville  Texas in 1931 twenty seven boys study at their desk while six work math problems on the chalk board

In 1949 thirty-two students and their teacher posed for their class photo at Travis Elementary in Quanah Texas

This 1907 photo of 21 students at the rural Possum Trot School which is believed to have been in either Borden or Scurry County Texas includes the names of three of the students identified  by Irene Hutcherson. Photo from the  Brent Lemons Collection

In 1905 twenty students at the Salisbury  School in Hall County Texas posed with their teacher for this great old photo of a classroom in 1905. Julia Hutcherson is the girl pictured on the back row far right. Photo courtesy Brent Lemons. Salisbury was the first settlement in Hall County. By 1898 the townsite was abandoned. The rural school survived and prospered... read more

On January 03, 1895 twenty four students and their teachers posed for this great old photo of the Hulver School in Hall County Texas. This photo contributed by Brent Lemons shows his great grandmother Pearl Harper and three of her siblings. Pearl is the tallest girl on the back row and the smallest boy on the front row in the dress is Homer Harper

Bitter Creek School 1909-1910 Class Photo

Photo of Bitter Creek School students in 1909 - 1910 in Nolan County. Boy with checkmark above his head is Charley Hall Smith. William Ellis Eidson is the tall one on the right. His brother, Albert is next to him ...

In 1928 this huge highly detailed photograph of the Anson Texas Tigers High School Basketball Team was captured by an unknown photographer. Photograph courtesy of Margaret Letzkus whose father, Clyde Dean,  is pictured on the top row second from left

"In 1949, as postwar Texas was steadily becoming more urban and calls for education reform were gathering strength throughout the state and nation, State Representative Claud Gilmer and State Senator A. M. Aikin Jr. sponsored a bill designed to increase salaries for Texas schoolteachers. Also tied to the bill, however, were provisions related to sweeping changes in school funding and access to education for minorities ..." Read more Look inside

In this huge 1921 class photo of the Anson Texas Elementary contributed by Margaret Letzkus three well dressed girls and six boys are pictured with their teacher. Margaret's dad, Clyde Dean, is just to the left of the teacher.

In the mid 1920s 84 students of the New Lynn school near Tahoka Texas posed for this rare image from a town that no longer exists The article includes a list identifying the students . . . see it full size and read more

It's amazing to find a school photo this detailed from a ghost school from 1924. It's a real treasure when someone has hand written the names of the students below the photo. This is the case in this incredible image of the Grassland School in Lynn County Texas . . . read more an see full size

El Paso School Students 1897

El Paso, Texas. North Central School Students - 6th and 7th grades 1897.

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On March 25, 1914 the administrative building of West Texas State Normal College was destroyed in a fire.

Four Abilene High School students pose beside period car in 1948

Albert Tucker's detailed study of education on the West Texas frontier covers a 60-year period of history from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. His subject is the schools in particular—schools founded in pioneer country and long ago abandoned or displaced. These "ghost schools"—a coinage of the author that builds on the notion of "ghost towns"—are little more than bare ruins today. Professor Tucker brings them back to life and invites us to get to know the founders, the teachers, the principals, the students, the parents, and the critical role they played in social formation . . . Read more

Eleven players on the Abilene High School football team in 1923.

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For generations of small-town Texans, the school gymnasium was the hub of the community. If it was a Tuesday night in Texline, most folks could be found in the old tin barn of a gym, rooting for their Tornadoes against the arch-rival Adrian Matadors. Transcending the role of a sports arena, the gym also provided a place to gather in celebration or shelter in crisis. Sadly, with the dramatic reduction of school districts around the state, many of the polished floorboards that once hosted graduations and beauty pageants now splinter beneath the weight of storage, farm equipment and guano-covered junk.  ... " Read more Look inside

1923 Abilene High School Football Team on the Way to Fort Worth

Abilene High School Boys Glee Club 1923

Kelso, Smith, Coombes, Harvey, Gray, West, Freeman, Gavin, Bryan, Robbins, Coffman, Kelso, heath, and Howell made up the Abilene Boys High School Glee Club in 1923 . . . look closer

Two Schools on Main Street: The Pride of Denison, Texas, 1873 - 2007

by Mavis Anne Bryant and Donna Hord Hunt

History of Denison High School along with Class Yearbook Photographs for years 1911 - 1954 - battle to save building . . . Look closer

Howard Payne College Class of 1912

Howard Payne College Graduating Class of 1912 in Brownwood with only 14 students graduating

Student's and staff pose for huge school photo in front of the Bangs Public School in 1909

School Days Around Pottsboro Texas 1850-1978

by Natalie Clountz Bauman

Tons of information and photographs of all of Northwestern Grayson County and especially the Pottsboro area's school from the 1850s to the 1970s. There are stories about the 1972 championship basketball team, the 1977-78 football team, many pages of the old Cardinal Courier newspaper from 1977 and 1978, it has the rare 1965 Georgetown school yearbook . . . Read more Look inside

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In 1891 the students and staff of the first school in Canyon City Texas posed in front of their school

Seventy-five years after the New London, Texas, school explosion instantaneously ended life for three hundred students, haunted memories of all who knew them, and hushed a community’s discussion of an unspeakable event, the detailed story is now told. On March 18, 1937, Bobby H. Johnson was an infant in New London destined to become the scribe, oral historian, and dramatist for the tragedy.  His first-grade brother became a member of the exclusive circle of “survivors” by fluke: Forgetting that his mother had given him permission to stay after school and play with a friend, he took an early bus home to safety. But his mind never erased the image of a cloud of dust in the direction of the school... Read more.

In 1905 the graduating class of the Canyon High School in Canyon Texas consisted of seven women and five men and none of them look very happy about it.

In 1898 sixty nine students and teachers climbed a fence outside their school in Canyon Texas to pose for this huge old photo with recognizable faces

"Can public schools still educate America's children, particularly in poor and working class communities? Many advocates of school reform have called for dismantling public education in favor of market-based models of reform such as privatization and vouchers. By contrast, this pathfinding book explores how community organizing and activism in support of public schools in one of America's most economically disadvantaged regions, the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, has engendered impressive academic results..." Read more Look inside

48 students and the teacher posed for this photo of a school in Canyon Texas in 1901

This image of a school in Canyon Texas features a man holding a disciplinary board and 62 shoed and barefoot children.

Group of 37 schoolchildren of various ages and two adults in Dimmitt that made up the first public school in Castro County Texas in 1891.
Some of those pictured are named and a handwritten number identifies them...

Dublin Texas Sixth Grade Class 1908

Twenty four boys and girls appeared with their teacher and the school principal in this class photo in 1908.

Duffau School students and teacher in Erath County Texas are pictured in this photo from 1915. Duffau is now a ghost town.

John Arendell, Marshall Ferguson, Rich Fagan, Roy Neblett, Brick Cameron, Stonewall Jackson, Roy Geren, Lynn Roberts, Bob Rutherford,Homer Titus, Newt Bruington, Jim Mace, Frank Booher, Bass Syler and Jay Shelton Claude Caver and Cain Jones

In 1919 seventy students from the summer class of West Texas State Normal College posed on the college steps for this large, high definition photo

Meet the 17 students in the Silverton High School Class of 1915. Photo contributed by Cris Gill. His great uncle, Hollie Francis is pictured in the last row middle.

1948 Quitaque High School Seniors

Names of students are shown below their photos. Local business sponsors from 1948 are listed below the photo . . . see full size

Four boys stand on the porch of Floydada schoolhouse and talk with younger boy on donkey in this postcard dated 1907

Lockney Christian College was established by Charles Walker Smith and St. Clair W. Smith, two evangelists of the Church of Christ. The first school year began on October 2, 1894, in a frame building, with Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Burleson as the first teachers. The school opened with sixteen students and had fifty students by the end of the year . . .

In 1908 these nine construction workers posed for a photo of the Lockney Christian College they were building. The photo shows the wood frame building the stone structure will replace. Once the building was completed, the college was renamed the Lockney College and Bible School . . . see full size

In 1909 the Lockney College and Bible School Posted this in the Lockney Beacon showing names and photos of the teachers and board of directors as well as photos of the college, and eight girls who were boarded there . . .  See the full image

18 members of the Lockney High School Football team posed for this group photo with their coach in 1939 . . . see full size

Mrs. Stewart, Kenneth Ring, Sam Bradford, Buster Rucker, G.W. Rezineck, Bettye Sue Roe, Syble Roe, Bradley Boyd, Eual Bradford, J.W. Jackson, Ethel Lee Reznieck, Kenneth Poole, Sudduth Moore, Elrea Autry, (unnamed) Rucker, F.J. Reznieck and Felix (children's cat)

George M Hunt School Yearbook Class of 1936 in Lubbock

Children, parents and teachers pose in this composite of the George M Hunt School . The class roll for 1936 is also included.

In 1938, sophomores at Post High School posed for this photo two years before they graduate in 1940 See anyone you know? Look closer

McMurry College Coach R M Medley with players Taylor, Osborn Park, Isaacs, Bowers, Tharp, Miller, Newton, Asst. Coach Pratt, Corbin, Roberts, Edwards, Brown, H V Hodges, Patterson, Mitchell, Hunt, Wharton, Hale and Pool in 1927.

McMurry College Football Coach R. M. Medley with players Campbell, Hale, W. Hill, Fitzgerald, Farmer, Hunt, Bigby, Bowers, West, Young, McCandless, Brown, Donaldson, Peeples, Wood, Self, Newton, D. Hill, Ledbetter, Harkrider, Murphy, and Meader in 1924

The male students, in a range of ages, and professors, are posed in rows. They are formally dressed and each has a ribbon attached to his jacket lapel. Individuals appearing in the image are: Front row, l-r, Jerry Fagan, Elmer Smith, Erchal Lacy, Bob Glenn; second row, Louis Hardy ... continued in artcle

Eleven women and nine men graduated from Clarendon College and posed for this photo in June 1908

Photograph of the main building of Clarendon College in Clarendon, Texas in 1906. There are three children sitting on the ground in front of the building, and a girl is about to enter one of the doors.

Photograph of students in a classroom at a school in Clarendon, Texas. Most of the students are seated at desks, with a group of nine boys standing at the rear. An adult male is also standing at the rear of the class. The boy standing fifth from the left is identified as Harold Bugbee.

Group photograph of female students at Clarendon College in Clarendon, Texas, with Irene Biffle Williams on the 2nd row from the top, 3rd person from the left.

In 1924 the Littlefield High School Pep Squad Posed with and in the Littlefield Independent School District bus

In 1938 Littlefield Texas 2nd graders posed in front of their school showing off the musical instruments they had learned to play

Large photograph of the Tulia High School with students walking on the grounds and windmill and tank that supplied water for the facility.

In 1907 staff and students turned out for this amazing old class photo of the Tulia Texas School District.

Great old photo of a man and his daughter posing in front of a school bus parked in front of his home in Tulia Texas in 1947

The graduating class of the Carmelite Monastery posed for this photograph with one girl holding a  certificate in 1888

In 1888, forty school girls at the Carmelite Monastery in Stanton posed for a class photo

George M Hunt School Yearbook Class of 1936 in Lubbock

Children, parents and teachers pose in this composite of the George M Hunt School . The class roll for 1936 is also included.

In 1938, sophomores at Post High School posed for this photo two years before they graduate in 1940 See anyone you know? Look closer

First Class of the Goodnight College 1898

Students: John McDonald, Herbert Jones, Joe Kesterson, D. Vaugher, Roy Vineyard, John Mackelhaney, Charley McClaren, Bess and Clyde Norvell, Ella and Minnie Dyer, Bill and Maggie Burns, Georgie Caperton, Relan and Annie Vaughn, Flora Hunter, Lou Goodnight . . .

Earl Payne and Bill Hill are identified in this old photo. Can you identify others?

In 1901 the girls in the Goodnight College girl's dorm appeared on the balcony and at the fence for this large old photograph. Note the ladders that served as fire escapes for the third floor.

Wayside School, Wayside Texas in 1914

Three teachers and 22 students posed in front of their school in Wayside Texas in 1914 in this huge detailed photo

Dublin Texas Sixth Grade Class 1908

Twenty four boys and girls appeared with their teacher and the school principal in this class photo in 1908.

In 1902 forty six children and their teacher sat for their fifth grade class photo in Big Spring Texas.

On the team (and probably in the photograph): Gill Alfred Barnett, Wesley Line, Frank Covert, Elmer Boatler, James Little ... read more see full size

Menardville School Class of 1890

Professor John Warren Hunter, from Mason, opened the Menard school September 6, 1884. Menard County was exempt from instituting a district school system until the 1890s This large photo shows 44 students and the staff from class of 1890. . . . See full size photo here

In this amazing old photo 16-year-old Frankie Groves, the first girl to play High School Football in Texas suits up to play for Stinnett Texas in 1947. It was on a frigid November 14 against arch-rival Groom High and against the wishes of many in her own hometown, that Frankie Groves became the first girl to play high school football in the State of Texas . . .

With two stories up and one to go, construction workers, students, teachers and parents posed for this large highly detailed photo of the Plainview High School in 1916 . . . see full size

Staff and students appear in this photo of Wayland Baptist College in September 1910. Boys on the right dressed in black and girls on the left dressed in white.
 ... zoom in

Queen candidates for the 1973 Harvest Festival were: Teri Dixon, Brenda Randolph, Cynthia Stewart, Tracey Blair, and Lana Williamson. Princess candidates are: Linda Shropshire, Camie Stanton Patti Middlebrook, Dana Blackburn, and Robin Akins . . . see the full image and learn more

Resources:

West Texas History & Memories

Early Life in Texas County by County

Books about Texas People and Places

Amazing People from Texas County by County