Starrville Community Center

Duane's take

The official marker for the Starrville Community Center in Smith County is what I'm bringing you now, and this one's got some layers to it. Startarrville didn't just appear out of thin air. It was originally part of the I.W.

Hall Survey, and by 1849, it had already earned itself a place on the map as a stop on the Dallas-Shreveport Road. That's a busy road, an important road, and Starrville was right on it. Then came 1852, when Reverend Joshua Starr bought the land and began selling town lots.

The town had a name, a preacher behind it, and real estate changin hands. Things were movin. A decade later, the summer of 1862, Starrville found itself in the middle of something considerably larger than town lots.

General Henry McCulloch's C.S.A. army set up an encampment right there, using the place as a staging ground in preparation for the march to Little Rock. Soldiers, tents, the whole business, right in the middle of this little East Texas community. But here's where the story takes one of those turns that makes you wonder about decisions and consequences.

In the late 1870s, local leaders refused to allow the railroad to run a line through town. Now, the marker doesn't editorialize on that choice, and neither will I. What it does tell us is what happened next: residents began moving to Winona.

Then the post office followed them, all the way to 1907 before it finally made the move official. Starrville, though, didn't quit. Communities rarely do when the people who remain actually care.

In 1927, a new school went up, made necessary because the Baker Springs schools had consolidated into the Starrville schools. Local carpenters Finis Walters, Lance Lowry, and Frank Alba built it, and they built it with intention. Vernacular style, double dropped siding on the outside.

Inside, a sloping floor and sliding wooden doors that could divide the space into classrooms when you needed them to. That's the kind of practical elegance that speaks to people who know exactly what they need and build it accordingly. Three years later, in 1930, an auditorium was added.

Plays, musicals, the kind of things that remind a small community that life is bigger than the daily routine. Over in the 1940s, two additional buildings connected to the school were donated to the Waters Bluff area to provide schools for children there. Starrville giving away pieces of itself to help somebody else's children learn.

That's a particular kind of generosity. By 1952, the school had been absorbed into the Gladewater system, and later into the Winona School District. The building, though, kept working.

It served as a polling center, hosted Smith County Historical Society programs, educational programs, an Old Timers Reunion, weddings, receptions. The walls of that 1927 schoolhouse have heard a lot of life inside them. Today the Starrville Community Improvement Committee operates and maintains the center.

And that building, the one Finis Walters, Lance Lowry, and Frank Alba raised with their hands back in 1927, still stands as what the marker calls a testament to the people's commitment to education and their strong community spirit. A town that lost its railroad, lost its post office, watched its neighbors move away, and still found a way to build something that lasted. That's Starrville.

What the marker says

STARRVILLE COMMUNITY CENTER STARRVILLE WAS ORIGINALLY PART OF THE I.W. HALL SURVEY AND, BY 1849, THE TOWN HAD BECOME A STOP ON THE DALLAS-SHREVEPORT ROAD. IN 1852, REVEREND JOSHUA STARR BOUGHT THE LAND AND BEGAN SELLING TOWN LOTS. DURING THE SUMMER OF 1862, STARRVILLE WAS THE SITE OF GEN. HENRY McCULLOCH'S C.S.A. ARMY ENCAMPMENT IN PREPARATION FOR THE MARCH TO LITTLE ROCK. DURING THE LATE 1870s, LOCAL LEADERS REFUSED TO ALLOW THE RAILROAD TO RUN A LINE THROUGH TOWN AND RESIDENTS BEGAN MOVING TO WINONA. THE POST OFFICE MOVED TO WINONA IN 1907. A NEW SCHOOL WAS BUILT IN 1927 BECAUSE BAKER SPRINGS SCHOOLS CONSOLIDATED INTO THE STARRVILLE SCHOOLS. BY 1952, THE SCHOOL WAS ABSORBED INTO THE GLADEWATER SYSTEM AND LATER WINONA SCHOOL DISTRICT. THE SCHOOL, BUILT IN 1927, IS DESIGNED IN VERNACULAR STYLE WITH DOUBLE DROPPED SIDING. THE INTERIOR WAS BUILT WITH A SLOPING FLOOR AND SLIDING WOODEN DOORS THAT SEPARATE THE AREA INTO CLASSROOMS. AN AUDITORIUM WAS ADDED IN 1930 WHERE PLAYS AND MUSICALS WERE PERFORMED. LOCAL CARPENTERS FINIS WALTERS, LANCE LOWRY AND FRANK ALBA CONSTRUCTED THE SCHOOL. THROUGH THE YEARS, THE SCHOOL HAS ALSO SERVED AS A POLLING CENTER, THE SITE OF SMITH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY PROGRAMS, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS, OLD TIMERS REUNION, WEDDINGS, AND RECEPTIONS. IN THE 1940s, TWO ADDITIONAL BUILDINGS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SCHOOL WERE DONATED TO THE WATERS BLUFF AREA TO PROVIDE SCHOOLS FOR LOCAL CHILDREN. THE CENTER IS OPERATED AND MAINTAINED BY THE STARRVILLE COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE. THE COMMUNITY CENTER REMAINS A TESTAMENT TO THE PEOPLE'S COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION AND THEIR STRONG COMMUNITY SPIRIT. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2012