Hubbard High School
Hubbard, Hill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Rich soil, access to railway transportation and the discovery of hot mineral springs attracted travelers, merchants and settlers to Hubbard and the town quickly grew. In 1911, the city council saw a need for a public school system and later that year, the voters elected to use taxes to create and maintain the schools. Once the $20,000 bond was approved and executed, the architectural firm of Field and Clarkson was selected to design the high school. E. Stanley Field and Wiley G. Clarkson designed many public buildings before and after their partnership in Wichita Falls and Fort Worth, respectively. The architects as a team designed a three-story addition to the Fort Worth Stockyards Hotel and the Corsicana First National Bank building. The contractor for the high school was G.W. Brillhart of Abilene who was involved in the construction of the Foard County Courthouse in the Classic Revival style. Construction on the Hubbard High School began immediately and the school opened in 1914. The imposing two-story red brick and limestone structure was designed in the prairie style with Texas rural Georgian influences. Several notable persons attended this historic school, including Samuel D. Johnson, a judge for the Texas Supreme Court and then a federal judge for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. This school was the only high school in Hubbard from 1914 to 1978, when a larger school was constructed. At that time, the school fell into disrepair. In the 1980s, a community group rescued the building and established a community center, genealogy center, museums, a library and the Tris Speaker Sports Museum. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2013
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Rich farmland, a railway, and hot mineral springs drew settlers to Hubbard, and by 1911 the growing town voted to tax itself for a public school system. The architectural firm of Field and Clarkson designed the imposing two-story brick and limestone building, which opened in 1914 in a prairie style touched with rural Georgian influences. It served as Hubbard's only high school until 1978 and was later rescued by the community as a center for museums, a library, and the Tris Speaker Sports Museum.
Why it matters
The school reflects the Progressive-era faith in tax-supported public education and a small town's later determination to preserve its own heritage.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · E. Stanley Field
- · Wiley G. Clarkson
- · Samuel D. Johnson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
George Washington Savage
Malone, TX
Born in Tennessee in 1826, George Washington Savage came to Texas in 1847 and made his mark as a farmer, race-horse breeder and trainer, and Confederate cavalryman. He eased the way for German immigrant families by selling them parcels and helping them start farms, and in 1885 he donated land for Savage School No. 1, the area's first school. At his death in 1899 he left a second wife and ten children.
Salem Lutheran Church
Malone, TX
This congregation grew from the wave of German immigrants who first settled Washington County and began pushing into Hill County in the 1880s. In June 1886, fifteen families organized the Salem Lutheran Congregation, worshipping in homes while their first building rose. The Salem community it served became a forerunner of nearby Malone.
St. Mary's School
West, TX
After St. Mary's Catholic parish organized in West in 1892, families eager for a Catholic education prompted Father Sebik to call on the Sisters of Divine Providence in Castroville. Sister Pelagia and three fellow nuns arrived to teach the town's 132 Catholic children, and demand grew so quickly that the school soon took boarders and outgrew its first building. Staffed by the sisters for nearly a century, St. Mary's survived their departure in 1984 through parent and community support and still serves the town.
Frazierville Community and School
Hillsboro, TX
A family settled a land grant on this Hill County ground in 1852, adding neighboring acreage that gave them timber and spring water. In 1883 a son donated part of the land for a schoolhouse that doubled as a nondenominational church, and the settlement that gathered around it took the family name. Their descendants held the land for well over a century.