San Jacinto High School
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
South End Junior High School opened its doors in 1914 with 750 students in an impressive classical revival style structure built here in 1913. South End Junior High became a senior high school in 1923, and in 1926 its name was changed to San Jacinto High School. Houston Junior College, predecessor to the University of Huston, began offering night classes at San Jacinto High School in 1927. An east wing containing 20 classrooms, a boys' gymnasium, and lunch room was built in 1929. In 1936 an art deco style west wing containing an 1800-seat auditorium, classrooms, and a girls' gymnasium was built. The University of Houston, which officially opened here in 1934, continued to offer night classes at San Jacinto High School until 1939. Special Education students began attending classes here in 1947. In 1960 two large technical/vocational school facilities were added to the San Jacinto High School complex. San Jacinto High School held its final classes here in 1970 when the Houston Technical Institute occupied the building. Houston Community College began offering classes here in 1971. Many of San Jacinto High School's former students formed an alumni association which by the mid-1990s had a membership in excess of 9,000. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Opened in 1914 in a stately 1913 classical-revival building, this Houston school began as South End Junior High before becoming a senior high in 1923 and taking the name San Jacinto High School in 1926. Its classrooms doubled as the cradle of higher education in the city: Houston Junior College, forerunner of the University of Houston, held night classes here beginning in 1927 and the university itself opened here in 1934. The high school held its final classes in 1970, after which the building passed to the Houston Technical Institute and later a community college.
Why it matters
Beyond educating generations of Houstonians, this building was the literal birthplace of the University of Houston, one of Texas's major public universities.
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Themes & tags
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