Crane High School
Crane, Crane County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On Sep. 30, 1947, the Crane Board of Trustees proposed $1,050,000 to build a new high school campus for the growing community. The board and Supt. L.L. Martin hired architect Sylvan Blum Haynes, noted for designing several other schools and residences and the Lubbock County Courthouse (1950). The Crane High School by architectural firm Haynes and Kirby was similar to Haynes’ previous design for the school in Carlsbad, New Mexico. This was Haynes’ final Art Deco design, a horizontal massing of buff brick with concrete ornamentation, featuring regular and grouped pilasters and a crenellated entrance tower. The new school opened in 1949. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2016
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Facing a booming West Texas oil town, the Crane Board of Trustees in 1947 proposed more than a million dollars to build a modern high school campus. They hired architect Sylvan Blum Haynes—known for schools, homes, and the Lubbock County Courthouse—whose firm designed a horizontal buff-brick building crowned by a crenellated entrance tower. Opened in 1949, it stands as Haynes' final Art Deco design.
Why it matters
The school captures the optimism and civic investment of a fast-growing postwar oil community, preserved in one of the last flourishes of Texas Art Deco school architecture.
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Related people
- · Sylvan Blum Haynes
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Crane, William Carey (County Named For)
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William Carey Crane was a Virginia-born Baptist minister and educator who came to Confederate Texas in 1863 to lead Baylor University—a post he held for 22 years, spending his own money to keep its doors open while many Texas colleges closed. He also helped found the Texas State Teachers Association and championed public-school reform. Crane County was later named in his honor.
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Carved from Tom Green County in 1887 and formally organized in 1927, Crane County honors William Carey Crane, a Baptist minister who served as president of Baylor University from 1863 to 1885. The long gap between creation and organization reflects how sparsely settled far West Texas remained until the oil era. The county seat, Crane, carries his name as well.
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