Weslaco High School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Weslaco High School in Hidalgo County. Now settle in, because this one's got a building that almost didn't make it. In 1921, the residents of Weslaco had something to say, and they said it loudly enough to petition the Texas Legislature itself.

They wanted out of Donna ISD, and they got their wish. Weslaco Independent School District was born. And once those board members had their new district, they did what any ambitious group of Texans would do.

They started planning a school. Not just any school. They brought in Harvey P.

Smith, a San Antonio architect, and handed him the job of designing the thing right. Then they turned to H.L. Fitch and Company out of Brownsville to see it through to completion.

By February of 1923, there it stood. One story, with a raised basement underneath. Reinforced concrete and hollow tile giving it its bones.

Dark Butler brick wrapping it on the outside, with lighter bands running near the roofline. And out front, a recessed central entry, a prominent door surround, a pediment above it all. The kind of entrance that tells you this place means business.

Now here's where the story gets a little tense. That building, and the adjacent Weslaco Junior High right beside it, both faced the wrecking ball. Demolition was on the table.

But they were rehabilitated, saved, and put back to work in time for the 2006 to 2007 school year. Sometimes the thing worth keeping just needs someone stubborn enough to keep it.

What the marker says

Weslaco Independent School District formed in 1921, when residents petitioned the Texas Legislature to separate from Donna ISD. Upon the district's creation, board members planned for the first school building, designed by San Antonio architect Harvey P. Smith and completed by Brownsville's H.L. Fitch and Co. by Feb. 1923. The one-story school building with raised basement is built of reinforced concrete and hollow tile, faced with dark Butler brick and lighter bands near the roofline. The recessed central entry has a prominent door surround and pediment. The structure and adjacent Weslaco Junior High were threatened with demolition before being rehabilitated for the 2006-07 school year. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2008