Hereford High School
Hereford, Deaf Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1898, a relocated frame schoolhouse served students of Hereford. New buildings came as attendance increased, and in 1916 the school board converted the former Hereford Christian College building into a high school. Rural school consolidation led to more students and a successful $125,000 bond issue for a new high school in 1925. E. F. Rittenberry was architect and George Parr was contractor for this three-story brick and cast stone building featuring prominent Collegiate Gothic style entrances and finials. The building has served as Hereford High School (1926-1954), Stanton Junior High (1954-1988) - named for the first junior high principal H. V. Stanton - and as Stanton Learning Center. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2009
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Hereford's schools grew with the town, from a relocated frame schoolhouse in 1898 to a converted college building by 1916, until a $125,000 bond issue funded a proper new high school in 1925. Architect E. F. Rittenberry designed the three-story brick and cast-stone building in the Collegiate Gothic style, with prominent entrances and finials. It served as Hereford High until 1954 and later as a junior high and learning center.
Why it matters
The building charts how small Panhandle communities invested in ambitious public architecture as rural school consolidation reshaped education across early-20th-century Texas.
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Related people
- · E. F. Rittenberry
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hereford Christian College
Hereford, TX
Hereford College opened in 1902 as a coeducational public school in a new three-story main building, but within a year financial need pushed it into the hands of the Christian Church, and it was rechristened Add-Ran College. Renamed again the next year as Panhandle Christian College, it leaned entirely on tuition and, unable to make ends meet, closed its doors in 1912. The building later served as Hereford High School, and this marker is set in brownstone salvaged from the old main structure.
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