Site of Scranton Academy

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this place. Now, settle in, because this is a story about what a small Texas farming-ranching community decided it needed, and what it built out of sheer determination. We're talking about Scranton, out in Eastland County.

In 1887, Scranton opened a public school. That was a start. But by 1903, the citizens of that little town decided a public school just wasn't enough.

So they did what determined Texans do: they passed the hat. By public subscription, they organized a private, coeducational school right alongside the public one. Scranton was only thirteen years old at the time, and already it was reaching for something bigger.

They called it Scranton Academy. The first president, O.C. Britton, took the helm in 1903 and held it through 1908.

Under his watch, the academy didn't just grow, it took off running. By 1910, enrollment had climbed to three hundred and twenty-five students. Three hundred and twenty-five, in a small farming-ranching community.

All eleven grade levels were being taught. Think about that for a moment. Now, Britton handed things off to W.W.

Griffin in 1909, then S.P. Collins carried it from 1910 into 1911. Then came J.E.

Temple Peters, who served from 1911 to 1915, and Peters was the kind of man who believed a school ought to look like a school. Under his leadership, courses were standardized, a science program was begun, and a modern laboratory and library were added. After Peters, J.W.

Hawkins took over in 1916, followed by L.E. Ratten in 1917. The trustees who helped build this thing included G.W.

Bailey, F.G. Boyd, A.P. Brown, W.D.

Clinton, W.T. Gattis, E.B. Lane, J.J.

Ray, W.T. Rutherford, A.M. Sprawls, J.R.

Sprawls, and John L. Woods. Good people, all of them, holding up something their community believed in.

And what they built was something to behold. A large classroom building. A five-hundred-seat auditorium.

Two dormitories. A scientific laboratory. A library.

And alongside the regular subjects, a teacher training program, so that Scranton's graduates could go out and educate the next generation. The academy contributed much to the town's culture, and its graduates entered many different walks of life. But 1917 brought the advent of World War I, and with it, the academy closed.

All that ambition, all those subscriptions, all those presidents and trustees and students, and in the end it was the world itself that intervened. The marker stands now at the site where it all happened, a quiet reminder that Scranton once built something remarkable, and for a while, it really was something.

What the marker says

A private, coeducational school organized in 1903 to augment Scranton Public School (opened 1887). Scranton, a small farming-ranching community, was only 13 years old when citizens founded the academy, by public subscription. The school expanded rapidly, reaching an enrollment of 325 by 1910. At its peak all grade levels (then numbering 11) were taught. First president, O.C. Britton, presided 1903-1908. He was followed by W.W. Griffin (1909), S.P. Collins (1910-1911), and J.E. Temple Peters (1911-1915). Under Peters, courses were standardized, a science program begun, and a modern laboratory and library added. Later presidents were J.W. Hawkins (1916), and L.E. Ratten (1917). Among early trustees were G.W. Bailey, F.G. Boyd, A.P. Brown, W.D. Clinton, W.T. Gattis, E.B. Lane, J.J. Ray, W.T. Rutherford, A.M. Sprawls, J.R. Sprawls, and John L. Woods. In addition to basic subjects, school offered a teacher training program. Physical plant consisted of a large classroom building, a 500-seat auditorium, two dormitories, scientific laboratory, and library. During its lifetime, the academy contributed much to the town's culture and its graduates entered many different walks of life. It closed with the advent of World War I in 1917. (1971)