A second railroad line in San Angelo in 1909 brought in a boom of growth. School Bonds were necessary to keep up.
The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient rail company, was on a mission to reach the border at Presidio. It began adding several major workshops to their railyard in San Angelo to support these operations.
Work on this line continued toward Mexico. By 1910, the new town of Mertzon was anticipating the arrival of the Orient Railroad around Christmas. Rail planners decided it was too much trouble to cross Spring Creek twice just to include Sherwood on the line.
According to an article dated Dec. 24, the first airplane flight took place in the area. Local inventor Noah Smith carried his own homemade flying machine out to the Lipan Flat. He successfully kept it a few feet off the ground, amazing his friends.
Trustees Seek To Enlarge Schools
San Angelo school trustees wanted to enlarge and remodel the existing high school. Either that, or build a new one that year. The wanted to “provide greater facilities for the opening of the 1911-1912 school year.”
Once again, the student population of the town increased significantly in a couple of years, prompting the need to grow.
Superintendent Felix E. Smith wrote: “I call your serious attention to the pressing necessity for taking at once definite steps to provide more buildings for the system. (school bonds)
“This is urgent for two reasons: First, further growth of population will bring next fall over-crowded classrooms, over-taxed teachers and half-day sessions. Second, the high school course of study should, and must, be expanded.”
He said demand for schools is a “most hopeful stimulus to a community; with certainty they indicate its growth, and provision in time of adequate school facilities is the surest sign of progress.”
Smith called for secondary courses in manual training, domestic economy and agriculture. He also wanted night classes for young people who could not attend classes during the day because they worked.
The school bond election trustees wanted in 1910 never really got off the ground. The situation had grown worse by the time the election was announced in 1914.
Voters authorized $80,000 to pay for the new high school on March 25, with 453 in favor, and 186 against.
School trustees announced in July that they had selected a new site for the high school on Oakes Street. It consisted of several tracts adding up to 500-feet of frontage. The District purchase the properties for a total of $8,700.
World War
News of war in Europe broke out. The first major battle of World War I was fought in Belgium.
American farms played a crucial role in Allied efforts. They supplyied most of the food for armies in the fields of Europe. Many farming communities in our area expanded during this period.
In 1917, Tom Green County had 28 rural schools, and two independent school districts. Those schools instructed 1,925 students with a cadre of 60 teachers.
Most of these schools served small farming communities scattered throughout the county. They included: Averett, Bird, Bismarck, Carlsbad, Christoval ISD, Concho, Grape Creek, Harriett, Heise, Hess, Knickerbocker, Keith, Lake View, McGill, Mereta, Midway, Mullin, Pulliam, Red Creek, San Angelo ISD, Seeley, Sherz, Sims, Skinner, Sykes, Tankersley, Twin Mountain, Vancourt, Wall, Walnut Grove, and Water Valley.
The Ben Ficklin and Cat Claw schools folded into the Bismarck School in 1917.
Between 1917 and 1919, few public projects were undertaken due to war. But following the Armistice, businesses were quick to respond, and a major period of economic expansion took place.
The next sizable bond election was in 1922. Voters approved $25,000 to provide better facilities for non-White students and repairs to other schools.
That election was in three propositions, all of which succeeded.
- $10,000 for new Mexican School – 162 to 79
- $10,000 for a new Negro School – 155 to 86
- $5,000 for repairs to other schools – 172 to 65
A letter appeared in the newspaper the following day from the “Mexican Colony” in San Angelo to thank voters for approving the money for a new school.
OIL!
On May 27, 1923, a wildcat well in Reagan County that had been chipping away with a cable-tool drill for 646 days passed a depth of 3,050 feet, and halted operations when the superintendent noticed some gas bubbles forming around the casinghead.
The following day the well roared to life on its own, becoming the first bona fide “gusher” in West Texas history.
The closest sizable city to the instantly famous Santa Rita No. 1 — only 78 miles east — was San Angelo, making it the newest oil headquarters in the state.
School Bond Follows
When school trustees called a $25,000 bond election for more school repairs the following month, the town was abuzz with daily reports from the oil field.
Officials noted voting was very light on July 31. The measure was approved 147 to 46.
Oil and gas production soon began in earnest, and by 1925, the population of San Angelo had reached 25,308.
By the end of June, San Angelo’s transformation to a bustling oil town was evident all over the city, but nowhere more conspicuously than the schools.
More School Bonds
“The proposed school bond issue for two new buildings to accommodate the growing number of scholastics takes on greater significance when one considers that schools are as essential as a drawing card as are adequate labor facilities.
“Oil fields adjacent stimulating all lines of business are increasing the payroll of San Angelo considerably, and that means a growing city. But even labor won’t be attracted and held to a place where educational facilities are lacking,” an editorial in the newspaper warned.
When schools opened in San Angelo for the 1926 fall term, Superintendent Felix Smith reported an increase of 303 students in the district over the previous year.
School trustees called a two-proposition school bond election for two issues of $250,000 each, set for March 13, 1926.
Prop. 1 called for funds to remodel five schools while enlarging three of them, and for building a new ward school. Voters approved the measure by a margin of almost 10-to-1: 658 to 67, with a 591-vote majority.
Prop. 2 funds were designated for a new junior college, which succeeded by a narrower margin of 594 to 109.
Voters also approved a 25-cent increase in the school maintenance tax, as the number of buildings of varying ages was becoming too much to keep up with, in terms of special bond elections for needed repairs.
Junior College Put On Hold
At that time that trustees said they “will not be in a rush” to erect the junior college. The reasons given was that it could not possibly be finished in time for the next term. They opted instead to begin work on the existing schools and select a site for the new ward school, somewhere west of the North Concho River, and begin the college work later.
Santa Rita Elementary Takes Shape
According to the report, trustees were holding options on several sites and planned to select one soon, and work would begin on the existing schools over the summer.
The site they eventually picked was located in Block 22 of the new Santa Rita Addition.
By mid-June of 1926, the Board of Education awarded four contracts totaling $151,510.50 for the immediate erection of the new ward school, and the remodeling of and additions to four other ward schools.
The new ward school, a single-story building with eight rooms, will serve Santa Rita, and most of Angelo Heights, and Park Heights.
The school was expected to be ready by October 15. The District awarded the contract to J.W. Neves of San Angelo in the amount of $43,665. The contract required the work be completed within 90 working days.
Four Ward Schools
Grandenberg and Balzen of San Antonio received the contract for the four ward schools in the amount of $93,764, and committed to completing their work on the south and west wards within 60 working days, and within 80 working days on north and east wards.
Trustees also awarded a contract for $6,784 to Chalkely Bros. of San Antonio for heating systems in all five buildings, and a contract for plumbing to Pettey Plumbing of San Angelo for $7,297.40.
The Board did not receive any bids on the junior college or for rebuilding the Central School, which was to become a junior high.
District officials were hopeful they can have the junior college ready for the fall term of 1927.
Central School Remodeled
On October 22, trustees awarded contracts for the remodeling and enlarging of the Central School on Magdalen Street.
The General Contracting Co. of San Antonio came in with the successful bid of $40,557 for the building work, with Bunyard Electric of San Angelo doing the wiring for $2,077 and plumbing by E.L. Veale of Abilene at a cost of $9,100.
The contractor estimated work would begin on November 1. The contracts called for completion in 150 days.
Contractors made good progress at the new Santa Rita Ward school, and at the other four ward school. Indoor restrooms would be available for the first time later that year.
Plans for the junior college were expected to be completed by January. Opening was planned for September of 1927.
By late November of that year, contractor J.W. Neves had framed the roof at the Santa Rita ward, and had started on the masonry and interior partitions.
The Santa Rita Ward School officially opened Feb. 18, 1927, relieving overcrowding at the Harris Avenue and Fort Concho schools, where students had been on half-day schedules. According to reports, the North and East wards will remain on a half-day schooling until more improvements are complete.
Junior College plans move forward
The trustees awarded building contracts for the college on Sept. 7, 1927, totaling $183,569. Thomas-Sable Construction Co. of Dallas was general contractor. They expected the college to be finished by July of the next year.
By September 1928, public school attendance in San Angelo was at 3,725:
High School – 572
Junior High – 978
Reagan School – 440
Fort Concho School – 351
San Jacinto – 408
Harris Ave. School – 229
Santa Rita School – 461
Mexican School, North – 49
Mexican School, South – 27
Negro School – 132
Junior College – 78
No Relief From Overcrowding
Surprising some, the schools were again suffering from crowding. This included the newest ward school, Santa Rita. Grades 1,2 and 3 were on half-days pending completion of some temporary buildings, which would take a couple of weeks.
The Junior High was almost complete.
At the High School, a new vocational section was almost ready. It had space to teach domestic science classes, vocational agriculture and automotive mechanics. That also added a cafeteria.
At the Junior College, courses include freshman and sophomore English, American history, English history, government, calculus, college algebra, trigonometry, freshman and sophomore Spanish, typing, shorthand, bookkeeping, zoology, general biology, education classes, and classes in psychology.
They added a brick addition with new plumbing to the Mexican School in the north part of town. The District added two new rooms to the Negro School, with new plumbing. They also reorganized the curriculum to includmore pre-vocational work.
The population of San Angelo continued to grow, and grow because of several years of sustained oil production. The City still needed more schools.
The school board called a school bond election for Feb. 27, 1928, seeking $350,000 from voters for a 16-room addition to the junior high school and a new six-room elementary, which was approved 406 to 37.
San Angelo’s Sixth Ward School
The District awarded a contract to F.M. Reeves & Son for the “Van Buren School” an April 23, 1929.
The new site, in the northwest Freeland Addition, consisted of 24 lots in Block 2-C. They purchased the lots for a price between $12,000 and $14,000, officials said.
This school, which later became known as Stephen F. Austin Elementary, opened in the fall of 1929 with 225 students.
On Oct. 29, 1929, the U.S. stock market crashed, causing radical reversals in public spending across America for many years to come.
