Crawford Schools

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Crawford Schools, out in McLennan County. Now, education in this part of Texas didn't wait around for things to get comfortable. Back in the 1870s, in a place called Old Crawford, two miles to the east and also known as Tonk Crossing, the schooling had already begun.

John H. Gouldy, Dr. J.B.

Cranfill, and other early teachers were conducting classes in a one-room schoolhouse. Just one room. You had to want to learn, or at least have parents who wanted you to.

Then the town itself up and moved. When Crawford relocated along a line of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railroad in the 1880s, a schoolhouse was among the very first buildings constructed at the new site. And that one-room structure wasn't just a school.

It pulled double duty as a meeting place for church services and town gatherings. One room doing the work of a whole community. In 1886, something interesting happened.

The local free school combined with Crawford College, a private operation, to form the Crawford Public Schools. Trustees added two rooms to the schoolhouse, and three teachers were now handling classes through grade seven. That was progress.

More grades and facilities were added over the years as the school population kept growing. By 1894, Crawford Independent School District had officially formed. And by 1903, trustees had built new facilities on the city's western border, right at this location.

Two years later, a school for African American students began, with Mona Boyd as its first teacher. The 1920s brought dramatic growth. Consolidations, the start of school bus service, expansion of the main campus.

Rural schools came folding in over the years, one by one: Bellview, Morgan Branch, Tonk Creek, Prairie Chapel, Center Hill, Osage, and Highland. Each one merging its students and its story into Crawford. But here's where the story turns heavy and has to be told straight.

The African American school, located on the southeast side of town, burned in 1951. Students then attended classes in McGregor until integration came in 1965. Those are the facts as the marker gives them, and they carry the weight they carry.

On a note of remarkable steadiness, from 1947 to 2004, Crawford ISD had just three superintendents. Three. In all that time.

That kind of consistency is its own kind of statement about a community. From pioneer days forward, the people of Crawford made quality education a priority. One room at a time, one consolidation at a time, one generation handing it off to the next.

That's the Crawford Schools.

What the marker says

Educational efforts in Old Crawford (2 mi. E), also known as Tonk Crossing, began in the 1870s. There, John H. Gouldy, Dr. J.B. Cranfill and other early teachers conducted classes in a one-room schoolhouse. When the town relocated here along a line of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe railroad in the 1880s, a schoolhouse was among the first buildings constructed. The one-room structure served additionally as a meeting place for church services and town gatherings. in 1886, the local free school combined with Crawford College, a private operation, to form the Crawford Public Schools. Trustees added two rooms to the schoolhouse, and three teachers taught classes through grade seven. Other grades and facilities were added over the years as the school population increased. Crawford Independent School District formed in 1894, and trustees built new facilities on the city’s western border at this location in 1903. Two years later, a school for African American students began with Mona Boyd as the first teacher. Dramatic growth for the Crawford schools began in the 1920s with consolidations, the start of school bus service and expansion of the main campus. Among the rural schools that merged with Crawford over the years were Bellview, Morgan Branch, Tonk Creek, Prairie Chapel, Center Hill, Osage and Highland. The African American school, located on the southeast side of town, burned in 1951, and students attended classes in McGregor until integration in 1965. From 1947 to 2004, Crawford ISD had just three superintendents, and each provided leadership and consistency to the district’s schools. From pioneer days to the present, residents of Crawford have supported quality education, making it a priority within the community. (2005)