Kilgore High School

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Public education in Kilgore didn't start with a grand building on a main street. It started the way a lot of things start in Texas, quietly, in somebody's living room.

Classes held in private homes, a community figuring out what it needed, and then, gradually, something more formal taking shape. The most notable of those early private institutions was the Alexander Institute, operated by a man named Isaac Alexander. In 1873, that school made its way to Kilgore, and for more than two decades it served the children of the town.

Then, in 1894, the Alexander Institute was relocated to Jacksonville, where it was later renamed Lon Morris College. But the building it left behind in Kilgore, that didn't go to waste. It was converted into a public school, and the work of educating Kilgore's young people just kept right on going.

The Kilgore Independent School District was established in 1906, and it kept using that same facility all the way until 1913. That year, a new two-story red brick school building was erected right here on Longview Street. Two stories of red brick.

That must have felt like something. Like a statement. Like Kilgore was putting down roots that weren't going anywhere.

And for a while, it was plenty. Then came 1930. Oil was discovered in Kilgore, and what followed was a boom that changed just about everything in the city.

Everything, including how many students were showing up to school. That two-story red brick building, the one that felt so solid and permanent back in 1913, was soon inadequate to house the student population of the city. So in 1932, it was razed.

Gone. And in 1933, a new combination high school, junior high, and auditorium was erected on the same site. An elementary school was later added to the property as well.

That's the thing about this piece of ground on Longview Street. Generation after generation, Kilgore kept coming back to it, tearing down what no longer served and building something bigger, something better, right on the same spot. The marker calls it an integral part of the life of the city.

After everything this ground has seen, that might just be the understatement of a century and a half.

What the marker says

Public education in Kilgore traces its history to classes held in private homes and the establishment of private institutions, most notably the Alexander Institute. Operated by Isaac Alexander, the school moved to Kilgore in 1873. It continued to serve the children of the town until 1894, when it was relocated to Jacksonville. It was later renamed Lon Morris College. The building which housed the Alexander Institute was converted into a public school. The Kilgore Independent School district, established in 1906, continued to use the facility until 1913, when a new two-story red brick school building was erected at this site on Longview Street. Following the discovery of oil in Kilgore in 1930 and the resulting oil boom, the 1913 school was soon inadequate to house the student population of the city. The red brick school was razed in 1932, and a new combination high school, junior high, and auditorium was erected on the site in 1933. An elementary school was later added to the property. This facility has continued to serve as an educational institution for the city of Kilgore, and stands as an integral part of the life of the city. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986