Godley School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Godley School, out there in Johnson County. Now settle in, because this one's got layers. It starts, as good Texas stories often do, with land and a railroad deal.

The year is 1886, and a rancher and lumber merchant by the name of B. B. Godley donates land for a townsite and a right-of-way to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad.

A town rises up around that generosity, and it takes his name. But here's the thing the marker wants you to know right up front: the school was already there. Before the railroad town, before the fanfare, Johnson County Commissioners Court had formed Godley Independent School District back in July of 1884.

The school beat the town to the punch. One of the earliest teachers to walk through its doors was a Dr. John I.

Pearson, and you get the sense this was a community that took learning seriously from the very start. By 1899, they were serious enough to open Godley College, housed in a three-story frame building. Three years later, that college quietly became Godley High School.

Then came 1916, and for graduation that year, a brand new three-story brick building opened just in time. Just in time. That's the kind of detail that makes a community proud.

Now jump ahead to the late 1930s, and things really start moving. Rural school consolidation brings more students, and the federal New Deal agencies bring money and muscle. A gymnasium goes up in 1937.

An auditorium follows in 1939, completed with financial and labor assistance through the National Youth Administration. That auditorium would later become a library, but in its moment it was a real achievement, built in part by the labor of young people getting a hand up through a federal program. Then in 1940, a new main building funded through the Works Progress Administration ties everything together, literally, joining the gymnasium and the auditorium into one single structure.

What you end up with is, as the marker puts it, an unusually large facility for a rural school. And it only got bigger in a particular way: school buildings from Bruce, from Pleasant View, and from Cottonwood were physically moved to the campus as part of the new construction. Whole buildings, relocated.

Godley gathered its neighbors in. The school housed all grades under one roof until 1967, when a new elementary school was built. After 1984, it became a middle school.

Then in 2000, an intermediate school. But the building itself, that 1940 complex, still stands. And it is something to look at.

The exterior is clad in native stone in what's called a giraffe rock pattern. Dark brick is laid in a stack bond variation, alternating runners and stretchers. Multi-pane windows catch the light, and Spanish Colonial-style entries mark the way in.

It's a building that wears its history on the outside, and carries a whole community's story within. That's Godley School, Johnson County, Texas.

What the marker says

The town of Godley began in 1886, as rancher and lumber merchant B. B. Godley donated land for a townsite and right-of-way to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. Predating the railroad town was the local school, as Johnson County Commissioners Court formed Godley Independent School District in July 1884. Dr. John I. Pearson was one of the earliest teachers. Godley College began in 1899 in a three-story frame building, becoming Godley High School three years later. A three-story brick building opened in time for graduation in 1916. Godley School experienced great growth in the late 1930s through rural school consolidation and federal New Deal agency aid. A 1937 gymnasium and 1939 auditorium enlarged the existing campus. The auditorium (later a library) was completed with financial and labor assistance through the National Youth Administration. A new main building, completed in 1940 with Works Progress Administration funds, joined the gymnasium and auditorium into a single building and an unusually large facility for a rural school. School buildings from Bruce, Pleasant View and Cottonwood were moved here as part of the new construction. Godley School housed all grades until 1967 when a new elementary school was built. After 1984 the school became a middle school, then an intermediate school in 2000. The Godley School consists of one-story wings connecting a two-story main building and an auditorium and gymnasium in a modified rectangular plan. The exterior is clad with native stone in a giraffe rock pattern. Dark brick is laid in a stack bond variation, with alternating runners and stretchers. Multi-pane windows and Spanish Colonial-style entries are also prominent.