Gober Public Schools

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Gober Public Schools, up in Fannin County. Now, Gober didn't start out as Gober. The town was settled in the 1840s, and back then folks called it Grittersville.

That name had some grit to it, you might say. But by 1885 a town site was platted, and somewhere along the way the name changed, renamed to honor the early settlers who'd put down roots there in the first place. Gober.

Clean and simple. The kind of name a town grows into. Public education got its start the way it often did out here, modest and multipurpose.

One room. One building that had to be a schoolhouse and a church and a social center all at once, depending on the day of the week and what the community needed. That little room carried a lot of weight.

Then came 1924, and fire destroyed the school. Just like that, gone. But Gober didn't quit.

The community came back with a two-story frame structure to replace what had been lost. And they weren't done yet. In 1938 and 1939, a new brick school was erected, and with it came something official: the Gober Independent School District, formed and standing on its own.

Brick walls, its own district, a real institution. For decades that school was the heartbeat of the community. Then 1969 came around, and declining enrollment closed the school for good.

The town that once called itself Grittersville had built something worth naming, worth rebuilding, worth carrying forward, right up until the day it couldn't carry it anymore.

What the marker says

The town known as Gober was settled in the 1840s, and was first called Grittersville. A town site was platted in 1885 and the town was renamed to honor early settlers. Public education in Gober began in a one-room schoolhouse that also served as a church and social center. In 1924 fire destroyed the school, but it was replaced by a two-story frame structure. A new brick school was erected in 1938-39, and the Gober Independent school District was formed. The school closed in 1969 due to declining enrollment.