Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say, straight from the record. Now settle in, because this one's a story that starts small and grows into something worth remembering. McAllen, down in Hidalgo County, was established in 1904, and back then the whole community made do with a small common school.

Just a modest little thing, serving whoever needed it. The town got incorporated in 1911, and then in 1915 the McAllen Common School District was formed, which is when things started movin in a direction that mattered. The McAllen School Board began construction of a school that would serve the Hispanic population.

And when they named it, they reached all the way to the top. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of these United States. That name carries weight, and they meant it to.

The school bearing that name opened its doors in January of 1921. Now, that alone would be a fine story. But wait.

In 1927, an annex went up, designed by a man named Ralph Cameron out of San Antonio. And here's the detail that stops you cold if you're paying attention: that annex came dressed in unique Pre-Columbian Indian trim, and when it was first built, that trim was left completely unpainted. Raw.

Original. Like it had something to say and didn't need any decoration to say it. Through all of this, one constant.

Zara Thigpen was the principal of Theodore Roosevelt Elementary from 1921, when the school first opened, all the way until it closed in the 1960s. That is not a typo. One principal.

One school. Decades of children coming through those doors. The school closed, as schools sometimes do, but McAllen didn't forget what it had.

In 2009, Theodore Roosevelt Elementary became a McAllen landmark. Turns out some buildings earn their names twice.

What the marker says

THEODORE ROOSEVELT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL McALLEN WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1904 AND A SMALL "COMMON" SCHOOL SERVED THE COMMUNITY. THE TOWN WAS INCORPORATED IN 1911 AND McALLEN COMMON SCHOOL DISTRICT WAS FORMED IN 1915. THE McALLEN SCHOOL BOARD BEGAN CONSTRUCTION OF A SCHOOL THAT WOULD SERVE THE HISPANIC POPULATION. THE SCHOOL, NAMED AFTER THEODORE ROOSEVELT, THE 26TH PRESIDENT, OPENED IN JANUARY 1921. AN ANNEX DESIGNED BY RALPH CAMERON OF SAN ANTONIO WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1927. ITS UNIQUE PRE-COLUMBIAN INDIAN TRIM WAS ORIGINALLY UNPAINTED. ZARA THIGPEN WAS THE PRINCIPAL, SERVING FROM 1921 UNTIL THE SCHOOL CLOSED IN THE 1960s. THE SCHOOL BECAME A McALLEN LANDMARK IN 2009.