Schools at Cedar Bayou

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm going to give you every word it's worth. Now, the 1876 Texas Constitution did something that sounds simple enough on paper. It established districts called school communities.

And right there in Cedar Bayou, that year, the first public school opened its doors. Where'd they hold class? The first floor of the masonic lodge.

Fewer than fifty students walked in on that opening day. Fewer than fifty. You hold that number in your mind, because we're going to come back to it.

The years kept moving. The 1884 school law came along and reshuffled things into what it called common school districts. District No. 15 ended up containing three schools: Cedar Bayou, Goose Creek, and Cedar Bayou Colored.

African American students, beginning in 1893, attended school at Mt. Olive Church over in Chambers County. Three schools, one district, and the community trying to figure out what education was going to look like out here.

Then 1911 rolls around, and the voters approved a bond. The plan was to build a two-story brick school on a two-acre plot. That land was donated by a man named Edward Ilfrey.

Two stories of brick. That was a statement, out here where they'd started in a lodge hall. In 1917, the Texas Legislature created Cedar Bayou Independent School District.

Now, you'd think that would mean things got moving right away. They didn't. The district wasn't functional until 1919.

Some things take longer than the paperwork suggests. An elementary school was added in 1928. Then in 1939, that two-story brick schoolhouse, the one Ilfrey's donated land made possible, was replaced with a new building meant to serve as Cedar Bayou High School.

Five years after that, they added a junior high school wing to it. And then came 1954. Cedar Bayou ISD merged with Goose Creek ISD to form Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District.

The 1954 graduating class was the last to walk across a Cedar Bayou High School stage. The remaining high school students transferred to Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown.

The old high school building didn't sit empty, though. It became the new Cedar Bayou Junior High School. The elementary school closed in 1956.

After that, the only classes on that campus were grades seven through nine. In 1966, Goose Creek CISD desegregated. Separate education for black and white students was abolished.

It had taken a long time coming. The marker doesn't editorialize on that. It just states it plainly, and plain is enough.

As Baytown's population kept growing, more schools were added. And that campus, the one that started with fewer than fifty students on the first floor of a masonic lodge in 1876, grew into a twenty-four-acre campus serving more than one thousand enrolled students, still providing a junior high school education today. Fewer than fifty to more than one thousand.

That's the whole story, right there in those two numbers.

What the marker says

The 1876 Texas Constitution established districts called "school communities," leading to the opening of the first public school in Cedar Bayou that year. The school occupied the first floor of the masonic lodge. The 1884 school law established "common school districts" and District No. 15 contained three schools: Cedar Bayou, Goose Creek and Cedar Bayou Colored. Beginning in 1893, African American students attended school at Mt. Olive Church in Chambers County. In 1911, voters approved a bond to build a two-story brick school on a two-acre plot donated by Edward Ilfrey. Cedar Bayou Independent School District was created by an act of the Texas Legislature in 1917, but the district was not functional until 1919. In 1928, an elementary school was added, and in 1939, the two-story brick schoolhouse was replaced with a new building to be used for Cedar Bayou High School. Five years later, the junior high school wing was added. In 1954, Cedar Bayou ISD merged with Goose Creek ISD to become Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District. The 1954 graduating class was the last to attend Cedar Bayou High School and the remaining high school students transferred to Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown. The former high school building became the new Cedar Bayou Junior High School. After the elementary school closed in 1956, grades 7-9 were the only classes taught on the campus. Goose Creek CISD desegregated in 1966, and separate education for black and white students was abolished. As Baytown's population continued to increase, additional schools have been added. Fewer than fifty students attended the first public school in Cedar Bayou on its opening in 1876. Since then, the school has grown to a twenty-four-acre campus providing a junior high school education to the more than one thousand enrolled students. (2023)