Wooster Common School No. 38

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the man passing it along. Back in 1891, a fellow named Quincy Adams Wooster came down from Iowa to have a look at Texas. Now, a lot of people have come to Texas for a look and then gone right back home.

Quincy Adams Wooster was not that kind of man. He was so impressed with this area that he sold his farm, packed up his family, and made the move. Once he was here, he got down to business, teaming up with a partner named Willard D.

Crow. Together, Wooster and Crow bought thousands of acres along Scott's Bay. And on January 20, 1893, Wooster had the town that would bear his name surveyed and platted.

A town, staked out of the Texas coastal land, just like that. Now a town needs a school, and the people of Wooster knew it. In 1894, a schoolhouse went up on First Street, near Market Street Road, on land donated by a man named Junius Brown.

The design came from Q. A. Wooster himself, and the building crew was about as local as it gets: Wooster, Brown, and their sons and sons-in-law, working together to raise it.

They chose cypress for the frame and the exterior siding, and longleaf heart pine for the interior. Solid materials, put together by people with a stake in what they were building. On April 9, 1895, a petition went before the Harris County Commissioners Court to create School District No. 38, to include Scott's Bay and Lynchburg.

The court moved forward, and the first trustees elected were Q. A. Wooster, Junius Brown, and John Wesley Crow.

Seven grades taught under that one roof. The school eventually became part of the Goose Creek school district in 1919, and through the years it closed and reopened more than once, the way small community institutions tend to do when the world keeps shifting around them. Then came World War II, and the population around Wooster increased greatly, drawn by the nearby Humble Oil and Refining Company and the Humble Docks.

The little rural community found itself in the current of bigger forces. By the 1950s, the City of Baytown had annexed Wooster entirely. In 1937, the old schoolhouse was moved to the new David G.

Burnet Elementary School, where it served as a classroom, a cafeteria, and a music room. It also held Sunday School lessons, and it served as a voting place. That building wore a lot of hats.

But the community of Wooster itself was taking its hits. Hurricane Carla in 1961. Hurricane Alicia in 1983.

Extensive subsidence. Industrial-use property acquisitions. One by one, most of the historic resources of Wooster were removed from the landscape.

The schoolhouse closed as a school facility for the last time in 1980. Then in 1986, it was moved again, this time to Republic of Texas Plaza, to be used as a museum. A building that has been a school, a cafeteria, a music room, a Sunday School hall, and a polling place, now standing as the oldest known existing one-room frame schoolhouse in Harris County.

Quincy Adams Wooster came down from Iowa for a look, sold his farm, and built something that is still here to tell the story.

What the marker says

In 1891, Quincy Adams Wooster visited Texas from Iowa. He was so impressed with this area that he sold his farm and moved his family here. With his business partner, Willard D. Crow, Wooster bought thousands of acres along Scott's Bay. He had the town of Wooster surveyed and platted on January 20, 1893. During World War II, the population increased greatly due to the nearby Humble Oil & Refining Company and the Humble Docks. In the 1950s, the City of Baytown annexed Wooster, then still a rural community. Hurricanes Carla (1961) and Alicia (1983), extensive subsidence, and industrial-use property acquisitions have removed most historic resources from Wooster. The Wooster Schoolhouse was built in 1894 on First Street near Market Street Road (later Arbor Street and Bayway Drive) on land donated by Junius Brown. It was designed by Q. A. Wooster and built by Wooster, Brown, and their sons and sons-in-law. Cypress was chosen for the frame and exterior siding and longleaf heart pine for the interior. On April 9, 1895, Harris County Commissioners Court was petitioned to create School District No. 38, to include Scott's Bay and Lynchburg. Q. A. Wooster, Junius Brown, and John Wesley Crow were elected the first trustees. Serving seven grades, the school became part of the Goose Creek school district in 1919. The schoolhouse closed and reopened several times, and was moved in 1937 to the new David G. Burnet Elementary School and used as a classroom, cafeteria, and music room. The building was also used for Sunday School lessons and as a voting place. It closed as a school facility for the last time in 1980 and was moved in 1986 to Republic of Texas Plaza for use as a museum. As the oldest known existing one-room frame schoolhouse in Harris County, it continues to have educational and historical value to the community. (1990, 2012)