Big Four School

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it — my job's just to do it justice. Out on the Caprock, a few miles north of Crosbyton in Crosby County, there's a place called Big Four. And if you're wonderin' how a community earns a name like that, well, the marker's got the answer.

The W.H. Hames and M.A. Reynolds families made their way out here — Hames arriving in 1902, Reynolds following in 1909 — and four houses were built on land owned by the Morrison brothers, all four of them clustered around one single windmill.

One windmill, supplying water for all four houses. Out on the dry Caprock, that windmill wasn't just convenient — it was the whole arrangement. Four families, one windmill, and a community begins to take shape.

With settlers coming in, the Parker and Fowler families soon called for something else a growing community needs: a schoolhouse. In 1909, Hames and a man named S.K. Freeman built a one-room schoolhouse.

Just one room, but it was a start. Seven years later, in 1916, a new two-room schoolhouse went up for the growing Big Four community. And the community kept building — in 1936, an auditorium rose on the school grounds, intended as a community center, a gathering place for the people of Big Four.

By 1953, Big Four School was one of only five rural schools still standing in all of Crosby County. Five. And the pressures closing in on those schools were real and serious: lack of financial resources, poor facilities, difficulty keeping students enrolled, and an inability to secure qualified teachers.

The marker doesn't dress it up. Rural schools existed for a specific purpose, and when Big Four School could no longer compete with the larger schools, it closed. Then came a chapter the marker tells plainly and that deserves to be heard plainly.

The two-room school building — the one that had been the heart of this community since 1916 — was moved in the mid-1950s to serve as a school for the Crosbyton Independent School District's African American students. That building later burned to the ground. The auditorium had a longer and quieter fade.

The school district gave it to local residents, with a deed stipulation that it be used as the Big Four community center. The wooden building held on. It was last utilized around 1980, when it hosted Big Four club meetings.

In 1981, it was turned back to the school district. The auditorium's condition had deteriorated, and there were no funds to restore it. In 2011, the property and building were sold.

What followed was the demolition of the auditorium and the erection of a new home on that ground. One windmill. Four houses.

A schoolhouse built by neighbors with their own hands. A community that lasted the better part of a century out on the Caprock. Big Four didn't go out with a bang — it went out the way most things do, slowly, quietly, until one day the last building came down and something new went up in its place.

What the marker says

The community of big four lies a few miles north of Crosbyton. The W.H. Hames and M.A. Reynolds families moved here in 1902 and 1909, respectively, and four houses were built on land owned by the Morrison brothers around one windmill which supplied water for all four houses. With the coming of settlers, the parker and fowler families soon called for a school house. In 1909 Hames and S.K. Freeman built a one-room school house. In 1916 a new two-room school house was built for the growing big four community. In 1936 an auditorium was built on the school grounds to be used as a community center. Big Four School was one of five rural schools that remained in Crosby County in 1953. Critical problems confronted the rural school, including lack of financial resources, poor facilities, difficulty in maintaining students, and inability to secure qualified teachers. Rural schools existed for a specific purpose, and when the big four school could no longer compete with larger schools, it closed. The two-room school building was moved in the mid-1950s to be used as a school for the Crosbyton Independent School District’s African American students. The school building later burned to the ground. The school district gave the Big Four School auditorium building to local residents with deed stipulation for use as the big four community center. The wooden building was last utilized around 1980, when it was used for Big Four club meetings. The building was turned back to the school district in 1981. With the poor condition of the auditorium building and lack of funds to restore it, the property and building was sold in 2011, resulting in the demolition of the auditorium and the erection of a new home.