Turkey High School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Turkey High School, out in Hall County. Now, pull up a chair, because this one's got some numbers worth sitting with. In 1928, Turkey's school system went out and acquired a piece of land, and they did not think small.

They commissioned a hundred-thousand-dollar high school, a hundred thousand dollars, 1928 money, and they handed the job to an Amarillo architect by the name of E. F. Rittenberry.

Rittenberry came back with something that turned heads on the Texas plains: a brick structure dressed up with English Gothic details. On the flat, wide-open canvas of Hall County, that building must have looked like it wandered in from another century entirely. Now here's the thing about 1928; Turkey wasn't building just for Turkey.

Consolidation with several area schools brought the enrollment up to four hundred and forty-five students, all of them needing a place to sit, to run, to gather. So Rittenberry's building stepped up: eight classrooms, a gymnasium, and an auditorium. It held them all.

For decades that building was the beating heart of the community, right up until 1973, when consolidation came calling again (this time with Quitaque schools) and classes in Turkey High School came to an end. But here's where the story takes a turn that not every old schoolhouse gets to make. Rather than letting the place go quiet and hollow, the community held on.

The Turkey High School building was preserved, kept alive as a center for community offices and events. Some buildings outlast their first purpose and find a second life worth having. This one did.

What the marker says

Turkey's school system acquired this land in 1928 for a $100,000 high school. Amarillo architect E. F. Rittenberry designed a brick structure with English Gothic details. Consolidation with several area schools caused an enrollment of 445 students in 1928, accommodated by eight classrooms, a gymnasium, and an auditorium. Classes ended in 1973 after consolidation with Quitaque schools. The Turkey High School building was preserved as a center for community offices and events. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1986