First Pharr School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Pharr School. Now, picture the Rio Grande Valley in 1911. Pharr, Texas is just finding its footing, and somebody decides it's time to put up a school.

So they call on John Bales, the contractor. Bales was already making his mark on this young town, building a number of its early structures, and this one-story schoolhouse would be among them. Nine students.

That's what you start with. Nine students walk through the door of that little one-story building, and a community begins to believe in itself. The building didn't just serve as a school, either.

During those same years it doubled as a community church, which tells you something about how much a small town asks of a good building. Now here's where the story picks up speed. By 1915, that enrollment had climbed from nine students to almost eighty.

Almost eighty. The walls that once held a handful of children were straining at the seams. So Pharr and San Juan joined together, two towns pooling their ambitions, to construct a two-story school on the east edge of Pharr.

The old one-story schoolhouse, having done its duty, passed into quieter service. For many years it stood as a residence. Then in 1949 it was remodeled as a convalescent center.

From a classroom holding nine children, to a church, to a home, to a place of care and healing. Not a bad run for a one-story building that John Bales put up in 1911.

What the marker says

Erected in 1911 as a one-story structure, this building housed the first school in Pharr. John Bales, the contractor, built a number of the town's early structures. Classes were held here until 1915, when enrollment had grown from nine students to almost 80. During that time, the building also served as a community church. In 1915 Pharr and San Juan joined to construct a two-story school on the east edge of Pharr. This structure was used for many years as a residence. It was remodeled as a convalescent center in 1949. (1985)