Terrell Elementary School

Duane's take

The way I tell it, this comes straight from the official marker for Terrell Elementary School in Kaufman County. Now, not every piece of ground earns a story worth keeping. But this particular spot in Terrell, Texas, north of the Texas and Pacific Railway tracks, has been earning one since 1901.

See, when the school board was figuring out where to put a school for the children living on the north side of those tracks, they landed right here. And in September of 1901, they had something to show for it. A two-story building, named the North Primary School, completed at a cost of nine thousand dollars.

Six classrooms. Facilities for three hundred pupils. That was no small thing in 1901.

But here's what happens when you build something good. People show up. More and more of them, year after year.

By 1931, the enrollment pressure had grown heavy enough that the Terrell School Board decided the time had come to build something new. They reached out for financial assistance from the Public Works Administration, and they hired a Dallas architect named Mark Lemmon to design it. What Lemmon delivered, completed in 1936, was a building worth talking about.

Fourteen classrooms. An auditorium with a twelve-foot stage. And the style he chose was Georgian revival, which means if you walk up to this building, you are greeted by a five-bay primary facade, rounded pedimented entry doors, round-arch windows on the auditorium, and chimney-like features at the gable ends.

It is, by any honest account, a fine piece of work. And it is still in use. That right there is a sentence that earns its keep.

In 1979, the school was renamed in honor of Superintendent John E. Langwith, born in 1889 and gone in 1976, who served the Terrell School District from 1923 all the way to 1959. Thirty-six years of service to the same district.

When they put your name on the building, that's the town's way of saying they noticed. From nine thousand dollars and six classrooms in 1901, to a Georgian revival landmark still ringing the bell in Terrell. Some ground just knows what it's for.

What the marker says

This location has been home to a school building for the students of the Terrell area since 1901. The site was selected to serve the children living north of the Texas and Pacific Railway tracks nearby. A two-story building named the North Primary School was completed here in September 1901 at a cost of $9,000, and contained six classrooms with facilities for 300 pupils. Over the years increased enrollment placed greater demand on the primary school and other schools. In 1931 the Terrell School Board decided to erect new school buildings with financial assistance provided by the Public Works Administration. Completed in 1936, this primary school was designed by Dallas architect Mark Lemmon, and contained 14 classrooms and an auditorium with a 12-foot stage. Still in use, this building is a fine example of Georgian revival architecture, featuring a 5-bay primary facade, rounded pedimented entry doors, round-arch windows on the auditorium, and chimney-like features at the gable ends. The school was renamed in 1979 in honor of Superintendent John E. Langwith (1889-1976) who served the Terrell School District from 1923-1959. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1996