Chronological Order of Texas City Schools and Notes of Interest 1901-1927 Central School (Demolished 1927) – Located on 5th Street North between 3rd and 4th Ave. North (in 1935 the site was used to build Dr. Frank Nott Danforth Elementary School). 1911-1939 Franz Kohfeldt Elementary School #1 1911-1943 Wolvin School (Named after Capt. Augustus B. Wolvin), Became Wolvin High School (1921-1927), Became Wolvin Elementary School (1928-1943 & closed in 1943 due to hurricane damaged and demolished after WWII) 1912-1936 “No Name” School for African American students started at the First Baptist Church on 1st Ave. So. and had several locations through the years. 1920-1939 Gonne School was opened in a former two story business building that was renovated to be a school for grades fifth, sixth, and seventh (Demolished) 1928-1957 Central High School, Became Texas City Junior High (1954-1955), became William R. Blocker Junior High #1 (1956-1957) (Demolished) 1935-2009 Dr. Frank Nott Danforth Elementary (Demolished Oct. 2010) 1937-1944 “No Name” African American School #2 1938-1994 Heights Elementary #1 (Demolished 1994) 1945-1967 Booker T. Washington School for African American Students (All African American students were integrated into the other schools beginning in 1962 completion of the integration in 1968) 1947-1993 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Elementary School #1 (Demolished 1993 and rebuilt on same site) 1947-Open Woodrow Wilson Elementary School 1948-Open Texas City High School #1, Became William R. Blocker Junior High School (1958-1975), Became William R. Blocker Middle School (1976-2015) 1953-2008 Franz Kohfeldt Elementary School #2 1957-2009 Levi Fry Junior High School, Became Levi Fry Middle School (1976-1984), Became Levi Fry Intermediate School (1985-2009 & Deb Kullerdmolished 2009) 1958-2011 Texas City High School #2 (Demolished 2012) 1958-Open Northside Elementary School 1967-1969 College of the Mainland #1 (Classes held in the old Booker T. Washington School until new campus could be opened) 1970-Open College of the Mainland 1995-Open Franklin Delano Roosevelt Elementary School #2 1995-Open Heights Elementary #2 (Built on the same site as Heights Elementary #1) 2009-Open Franz Kohfeldt Elementary School #3 2009-Open Levi Fry Intermediate School #2 2012-Open Texas City High School #3 2015-Open William R. Blocker Middle School (Demolish began 2012 on the site of the old Texas City High School #2 to make way for the new middle school). 0ther notable school historic references: The earliest known record of a school in the Shoal Point area (which became Texas City) was a one room log cabin in 1872 with the first teacher being Julia Wilcox, the aunt of longtime TCHS dean of girls Lazelle Wilcox who was with the TCISD for 45 years. Other schools and teachers followed prior to the TCISD being established. The first Board of Trustees was chosen on December 13, 1904 and on January 11, 1905 the TCISD was established which was before Texas City was incorporated in 1911. In the beginning, the TCISD was a 1-8 grade system. It wasn’t until the 1911-12 school year that the grade levels expanded to 1-11. In the 1938 the grade levels were expanded to 1-12. The first year that the Stingaree Yearbook (named after the Wolvin School’s official mascot) was published was in 1920. It was hand-drawn and hand-lettered with photographs pasted in appropriated places. In 1923, the Wolvin School students named the official yearbook The Octopus. The following year, 1924, the yearbook was called the Stingaree Volume II and has remained the Stingaree Yearbook ever since. 1924 was also the year that the yearbook was professionally published. The original Stingaree Stadium was located in the 100 block of 9th Ave. North and then moved to its present day site adjacent to the high school in 1951 and has a seating capacity of over 10,000. The modern state of the art Daktronics LED scoreboard with a SportsSound 1000 sound system was added in 2009. The first TCISD Administration building was operated for many years in a wood framed house on 4th St. North facing and across the street from Danforth Elementary School. The offices were mover to a new facility on 9th Ave. across the street from Texas City High School #2, and then the current day location is on the former site of the Texas City High School #2’s swimming pool and called Simpson Education Support Center. The Texas City High School Alma Mater was written by former TCHS Choir director Leon White in 1949 and the music was arranged by former TCHS Band director Wade Pogue. That version remains in use today. The TCHS Fight Song uses the melody of Frederick Ellsworth Bigelow’s (1873-1929) “Our Director.” Special Note: There are some conflicting dates between various sources used in researching this material and every effort was made to verify and to be accurate on the dates used above. Sources for this information include but are not limited to: the book “Texas City Centennial 1911-2011 Celebrating Its Past, Present, and Future” by Linda Cooper Holm, Nancy L. Walker, and Tanya E. Baker; the book “Images of America” by Albert L. Mitchell; The Texas City Museum: The Moore Memorial Library; Texas City ISD achieves; Texas City ISD Historic and Information Office; my father’s (Guilford L. Strong) TCISD Board of Trustee’s journals, meeting notes, Stingaree Yearbooks, and personal papers from his time on the school board in the 1950’s, my grandfather’s, Harvey M. Strong, TCISD Board of Trustee’s journals, meeting notes, and personal papers from his time on the school board from his 10 terms on the school board during the early days of the TCISD; personal papers and memorabilia in my, Guilford L. Strong, Jr., collection of Texas City history; various newspaper articles; and personal interviews with numerous “old timers” and historians in Texas City over the past 50 years
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 09:13:48 +0000
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