Wichita Falls High School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Wichita Falls High School. Now settle in, because this story starts small, and I mean that literally. We're talking about a log cabin.

The year is 1880, and that humble little structure is the first public school to open its doors in Wichita Falls. But here's the thing worth knowing before we even get to that log cabin: the groundwork had already been laid. Three private schools, founded back in 1879, had been working to get education going in this corner of Texas.

The public school was, in a sense, the next chapter of something already in motion. Five years after that log cabin opened, the town found a clever solution to the question of where to put a growing school. The former Wichita County Courthouse got picked up and relocated to Tenth and Scott streets, and just like that, a courthouse became a classroom.

Then came 1890, and Wichita Falls got its first true high school building. Two years later, in 1892, five students walked across a stage and received diplomas. Five.

The entire first graduating class. You could fit them in one row, and yet that moment mattered. The school reorganized more than once after that, and in 1908 the Texas Legislature chartered the Wichita Falls Independent School District, giving the whole enterprise an official backbone.

A new high school was built and opened in September of 1910. Then came the building that many folks would come to know as the high school. Construction on the Avenue H building broke ground on April 24, 1923.

That structure would see the school shift from an eleven-year curriculum to a twelve-year plan in 1940, and it would grow with additions in 1953, then again in 1956, and once more in 1977. Now remember those five graduates back in 1892? By 1936, four thousand five hundred and seven students had received diplomas from Wichita Falls High School.

From five to four thousand five hundred and seven. Walking out of those halls over the years have been legislators, doctors, attorneys, ministers, entertainers, and business people. That first class of five planted something, and Wichita Falls has never stopped waterin' it.

What the marker says

Evolving out of three private schools founded in 1879, the first public school in Wichita Falls opened in 1880 in a log cabin. Five years later the former Wichita County Courthouse was relocated to Tenth and Scott streets for use as a school. The first Wichita Falls High School was built in 1890, and in 1892 the first graduating class, consisting of five students, received diplomas. After undergoing several reorganizations, the Wichita Falls Independent School District was chartered by the Texas Legislature in 1908. A new high school was built and opened in September 1910. Construction of the high school building on Avenue H began on April 24, 1923. The high school changed from an eleven-year curriculum to a twelve-year plan in 1940. Additions to the building occurred in 1953, 1956, and 1977. Since its initial graduating class of five, the student population of Wichita Falls High School has continued to increase. By 1936 4,507 students had graduated from the school. Among the institution's former students are legislators, doctors, attorneys, ministers, entertainers, and business people. The school continues to be a vital part of the community. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.