Lubbock High School

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to give it its due. Now, the South Plains of Texas has a way of growin' things — cotton, ambition, whole cities seemingly overnight. And in the 1920s, Lubbock was growin' fast.

Population climbing, the city planting itself as the agricultural, educational, service, and trade center of the South Plains. Communities like that, they reach a point where they look around and say: we need something that matches who we're becoming. And what Lubbock needed, among other things, was a high school worthy of the moment.

The firm of Peters, Strange and Bradshaw — a Lubbock architectural firm, local people with local stakes — drew up something that was anything but modest. Two- and three-story classroom wings. Offices.

A gymnasium. An auditorium. And all of it arranged around not one, but two open courtyards.

Light, air, and the feeling that learning was meant to breathe. Then there's the style. North Italian Romanesque.

Richly ornamented. Decorative brickwork, terra cotta ornamentation, and rising above it all, a campanile — that's a bell tower, for those of you not up on your Italian architectural vocabulary, and out here on the flat West Texas plain, a bell tower has a way of announcing itself for miles. Now, here's where the story gets interesting.

The building was completed in 1931. Which means it was rising out of the ground right as the Great Depression was settling in like an uninvited guest with no intention of leaving. The marker notes it plainly — completed despite the beginnings of economic hardship resulting from the onset of the Great Depression.

Despite. That word is doing a lot of work. Lubbock finished what it started.

Over the years, as the population kept climbing, the facilities were expanded several times to keep pace. The school kept growing because the city kept growing, and the city kept growing in no small part because of the people walking out of that building — students who went on to become Lubbock's outstanding civic and community leaders. That's not decoration.

That's the point. Lubbock High School stands today as a significant example of institutional architecture in Texas. The campanile still rises.

The terra cotta still catches the light. And somewhere in those two open courtyards, you can almost still hear the echo of every class that ever passed through.

What the marker says

The city of Lubbock experienced a significant increase in population during the 1920s as it became the agricultural, educational, service, and trade center of the South Plains. This high school was built out of the need for providing an eduction for the young people of the rapidly growing community. Designed by the Lubbock architectural firm of Peters, Strange and Bradshaw, the original building consists of two- and three-story classroom wings, offices, a gymnasium, and an auditorium, all constructed around two open courtyards. Over the years, as Lubbock's population increased, the facilities were expanded several times to meet the need. The richly ornamented, North Italian Romanesque style high school was completed in 1931, despite the beginnings of economic hardship resulting from the onset of the Great Depression. The building features decorative brickwork, terra cotta ornamentation, and a campanile, or bell tower. Lubbock High stands as a significant example of institutional architecture in Texas, as well as a local landmark known for its many students who became Lubbock's outstanding civic and community leaders. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1984.