Big Spring School District

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the voice carrying it down the road. Now settle in, because this story goes back further than most folks think. Education in Howard County, well, it didn't wait long to get started.

The county formally organized in 1882, and almost before the dust settled, the first commissioners court ordered the construction of a school building. By 1883, Howard County Common School District No. 1 was a reality. That's the seed everything else grew from.

Then on December 14, 1901, the Big Spring School District was officially established, and to mark the occasion, a new brick schoolhouse called Central Ward went up, built to house students in all ten grades. Brick. Ten grades.

They weren't thinking small. Now here's something the marker doesn't let you forget. Records show that back in 1902, the county was providing forty dollars a month for a teacher for African-American students.

Forty dollars a month. You file that number away, because it tells you something about how the system was structured from the very beginning. Within the first ten years of the district's creation, they didn't slow down one bit.

Two more elementary schools went up, and a new high school joined them. Growth was the name of the game. Then came the late 1920s, and the Permian Basin gave up its oil.

That discovery signaled an era of growth, and the schools felt it directly through increased enrollment. The 1930s brought more building. The Kate Morrison School for Mexican-American students was completed.

The Lakeview School for African Americans was completed. Three other neighborhood elementary schools joined them. And somewhere in all that activity, Big Spring was running an early vocational cooperative education program, one of the first of its kind in the entire state of Texas.

That's not nothing. That's a district doing something nobody else had quite figured out yet. Then came the 1950s and 1960s, and Webb Air Force Base brought new families, new kids, and new enrollment numbers that pushed the district to keep building.

But 1955 is the year that stands out most in that stretch. That year, Big Spring became one of the first school districts in Texas to enforce the Supreme Court's decision against school segregation. One of the first.

In 1964, the district grew again when Big Spring annexed the neighboring Gay Hill and Center Point school districts. By the time the marker takes stock of things, one hundred years into the Big Spring School District's life, the accomplishments add up to something that can't be dismissed. From a single brick schoolhouse on December 14, 1901, to a district that shaped generations of Howard County kids, including some who made history before the rest of Texas caught up.

That's a legacy you can build on.

What the marker says

Education has been an important endeavor in Howard County since its formal organization in 1882, when the first commissioners court ordered the construction of a school building and created Howard County Common School District No. 1 in 1883. On December 14, 1901, the Big Spring School District was established and a new brick schoolhouse named Central Ward was built to house students in all ten grades. Records indicate that the county provided $40/month for a teacher for African-American students in 1902. Within the first ten years of its creation, Big Spring School District built two more elementary schools and a new high school. The discovery of oil in the Permian Basin in the late 1920s signaled an era of growth and increased school enrollment in Big Spring. In the 1930s, the Kate Morrison School for Mexican-American students and the Lakeview School for African Americans were both completed, as were three other neighborhood elementary schools. An early vocational cooperative education program in Big Spring was one of the first of its kind in the state. The 1950s and 1960s saw enrollment increases and new school construction because of the presence of Webb Air Force Base. In 1955, Big Spring became one of the first school districts in Texas to enforce the Supreme Court's decision against school segregation. Big Spring annexed the neighboring Gay Hill and Center Point school districts in 1964. Many accomplishments during its first 100 years give Big Spring schools a significant role in Howard County's educational history. (2001)