Big Spring School District
Big Spring, Howard County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Education has been an important endeavor in Howard County since its formal organization in 1882, when the first commissioners court ordered the construction of a school building and created Howard County Common School District No. 1 in 1883. On December 14, 1901, the Big Spring School District was established and a new brick schoolhouse named Central Ward was built to house students in all ten grades. Records indicate that the county provided $40/month for a teacher for African-American students in 1902. Within the first ten years of its creation, Big Spring School District built two more elementary schools and a new high school. The discovery of oil in the Permian Basin in the late 1920s signaled an era of growth and increased school enrollment in Big Spring. In the 1930s, the Kate Morrison School for Mexican-American students and the Lakeview School for African Americans were both completed, as were three other neighborhood elementary schools. An early vocational cooperative education program in Big Spring was one of the first of its kind in the state. The 1950s and 1960s saw enrollment increases and new school construction because of the presence of Webb Air Force Base. In 1955, Big Spring became one of the first school districts in Texas to enforce the Supreme Court's decision against school segregation. Big Spring annexed the neighboring Gay Hill and Center Point school districts in 1964. Many accomplishments during its first 100 years give Big Spring schools a significant role in Howard County's educational history. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Public education took root in Howard County soon after its 1882 organization, and in 1901 the Big Spring School District rose with a brick 'Central Ward' school for all ten grades. As Permian Basin oil boomed in the late 1920s and Webb Air Force Base later swelled the town, the district grew — building separate schools for African-American and Mexican-American children, then becoming one of the first in Texas to enforce the Supreme Court's 1954 desegregation ruling in 1955.
Why it matters
The district's century mirrors the arc of Texas public schooling — from frontier common schools through segregation to early compliance with Brown v. Board — showing how one town's classrooms tracked the nation's struggle over who gets educated together.
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Related events
- · School desegregation
Themes & tags
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