DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, Gainesville had itself a problem at the turn of the twentieth century — a growing city, more young people needing an education than the old buildings could hold, and not nearly enough money in the treasury to fix it. That is a combination that tends to sit and fester.
But then, in 1920, something remarkable happened. A couple named W.H. and Ella Dougherty stepped forward and donated their mansion — a mansion that had once belonged to a United States Senator, Joseph W. Bailey — along with the surrounding land, to the city of Gainesville.
Just gave it. For a school. Now you might be wonderin' what moves a family to hand over a senator's former home, and the marker tells you plainly.
The Doughertys had a son. Isaac Newsome Dougherty. He died at age twenty-six in the worldwide influenza epidemic that began in 1918.
And when W.H. and Ella made their donation, they stipulated one condition: the school would carry his name. Newsome Dougherty Memorial High School. The facilities opened in 1922 and served students all the way through 1959.
And the story doesn't stop there — by 1924, that same campus had begun housing Gainesville Junior College, which would later become North Central Texas College. One donation. One name on a building.
One family's grief turned into something a whole city could learn inside of. The marker calls it vital to Gainesville's transition to a modern education system, and it's hard to argue with that.
What the marker says
In the early 20th century, the growing city of Gainesville needed a new high school but lacked funds. In 1920, W.H. and Ella Dougherty donated their mansion, which once belonged to U.S. Senator Joseph W. Bailey, and surrounding land to the city for this purpose. The couple stipulated the school be named for their son, Isaac Newsome Dougherty, who died at age 26 in the worldwide influenza epidemic that began in 1918. Facilities opened in 1922 and served students until 1959. In 1924, the campus began housing Gainesville Junior College, later North Central Texas College. The Doughertys' donation thus proved vital to the city's transition to a modern education system. (2006)