The existing four room school building was in very poor condition when the De Leon City Council met on June 6, 1900 to call a bond election to finance the acquisition of a building site and erect a new school.  The amount of the proposed bond was $7,500.00.  The Interest rate was to be 4% for forty years and a twenty-five cent per $100 valuation tax would be levied to pay for the bonds.    The election was set for July 2.  At the time, the taxable value of all the property within the city totaled $207,358. That would bring in only $518 annually to apply toward the debt.

    The election was held in the J.W. Saunders building with J.M. Lambert serving as the Presiding Officer. The judges and clerks included J.S. Lacy, C.L. Kite(?), R.S.(?) Rich and C.E. Langston. 

    The situation in the school was very serious.  Both Superintendent Lane and Alf Hampton had resigned and De Leon’s facilities were considered inferior to even the more remote county schools.  Hampton returned to the practice of law ultimately becoming the city attorney. 

    The few remaining teachers campaigned hard for passage of the bonds.   A total of 90 ballots were cast with 66 voting to approve the bonds and 24 voting against approval. 

     The block on which the present high school and middle school buildings are located was acquired and construction is believed to have begun in the late summer of 1901. 

     The school was completed and occupied in September 1902 and the first graduating class followed in the spring of 1903.

     There were four classrooms and a central corridor on each of the two floors.  The stairway was in the center of the building.              

1902 School

In July 1911 the citizens of De Leon voted 83 to 2 to issue $2,000 in bonds to add an east wing to the school.  The expansion added one more classroom to each floor.  The new wing opened October 12, 1911.  This photo was taken in October 1912.  The “2” was apparently reversed on the negative.

The bell from the 1902 school 

For many years it was located at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Schuman on South Houston Street.  Note the replica of the Alamo in front of the guest house.    Photo by Xandra Morgan Carter (1981)

The caption on the photograph indicates this is the high school but, it was in fact “the school.”  Note the boy sitting in the second floor window and the post serving as a basketball goal to the left of the caption.

This photo of the school was probably taken sometime after the above photo.  While the trees had not grown perceptively, the basketball goals had both been braced and another goal had been erected on the left end of the building in front of the last two windows.

A class photo at the school in 1905.  This was probably taken at the west door of the school since the drain spout does not match the front door.  The photo came from the collection of Edna Myrl Redden.  Her sister Marie is standing to the right of the teacher.  The teacher is Myrtle Paine, Marie’s cousin.  Lula Mae Smith (Stone) is on the second row, second from the right.  Jeff Tate is the third from the right on the bottom row.  Notice that there are twice as many girls as boys.

FIRST AND LAST GRADUATING CLASSES

The 1903 graduating class of De Leon High School. 

    This marked the first time in school history that a graduation ceremony was held. The graduates are (L-R):  Flora Ayers, Julia Streety (Rush), Stella Ross (Weaver), and Sallie Miller.  Sallie Miller was listed in the 1906-1907 school handbook as a teacher.

    The final class to complete its education in this building was the Class of 1918.   The class held its graduation ceremonies in the new (1918) high school but never had classes there.   The Abilene Reporter News, in an article on the 50th reunion indicated that there were eight graduates including Lois Butler (Tanksley), Ross D. Jenkins, Pauline Moreland (Lockhart), Dean Rippetoe, Letha Smith (Cate), Lula Mae Smith (Stone), Jeff Tate, Robert Weaver (son of Stella Ross Weaver who was in the first class to graduate from the building), and teacher Lyman Forrest.  Positively identified are Jeff Tate and Ross Weaver are L-R on the second row.  The others are believed to be Ross Jenkins on the front row left; Dean Rippetoe top left;  Lois Butler kneeling on the right with her hand on the shoulder of Pauline Moreland and Lyman Forrest top row in window.

HALF A CENTURY LATER


The Class of 1918 at its 50th reunion in 1968.

The men are (L-R) Dean Rippetoe, Jeff Tate, Robert Weaver and Ross D. Jenkins.  The ladies are (L-R) Pauline Moreland (Lockhart), Lula Mae Smith (Stone), and Lois Butler (Tanksley).  The reunion was held at the F&M Bank.

Graduation Invitation

    One hundred years ago, this was the school catalogue for the De Leon Public Schools.  School opened September 10th at 9 o’clock.

  The Board of Trustees included W.E. Lowe-President, T.S. Ross-Secretary, Will Nabors-Treasurer, R.H. Rush, C.C. Morris, J.E. Self, and J.I. Grisham.  Self and Grisham’s terms expired in May 1908 while all the others expired in 1907.

     Gaylord Kline was Superintendent and  A.R. Jarrett was Principal.  They taught the high school courses (8th-11th). The teachers were Miss Annie McCaula (2nd Grade) Miss Modesta Patterson (3rd grade ), Miss Sallie Miller (4th and 5th Grades) Miss Nannie Neighbors (6th and 7th Grades),  and Miss Annie Rogers (Music).  The first grade teacher was not named.

     As an independent school (independent of the county system) the school was part of the city government.  All children between the ages of 7 and 17 who lived within the city limits were entitled to attend without payment of tuition.  Tuition for others ranged from $1.00 to 2.50 per month.

De Leon elementary students about 1910.