Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School
McAllen, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
THEODORE ROOSEVELT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL McALLEN WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1904 AND A SMALL “COMMON” SCHOOL SERVED THE COMMUNITY. THE TOWN WAS INCORPORATED IN 1911 AND McALLEN COMMON SCHOOL DISTRICT WAS FORMED IN 1915. THE McALLEN SCHOOL BOARD BEGAN CONSTRUCTION OF A SCHOOL THAT WOULD SERVE THE HISPANIC POPULATION. THE SCHOOL, NAMED AFTER THEODORE ROOSEVELT, THE 26TH PRESIDENT, OPENED IN JANUARY 1921. AN ANNEX DESIGNED BY RALPH CAMERON OF SAN ANTONIO WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1927. ITS UNIQUE PRE-COLUMBIAN INDIAN TRIM WAS ORIGINALLY UNPAINTED. ZARA THIGPEN WAS THE PRINCIPAL, SERVING FROM 1921 UNTIL THE SCHOOL CLOSED IN THE 1960s. THE SCHOOL BECAME A McALLEN LANDMARK IN 2009.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1921 and named for President Theodore Roosevelt, this McAllen school was built specifically to educate the growing city's Hispanic children in the years after the town incorporated. A 1927 annex by San Antonio architect Ralph Cameron carried unusual pre-Columbian Indian trim, originally left unpainted, and principal Zara Thigpen led the school across four decades until it closed in the 1960s. McAllen recognized the building as a landmark in 2009.
Why it matters
The school reflects both the rapid growth of the Rio Grande Valley and the segregated schooling that shaped Mexican American children's education in early-twentieth-century Texas.
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Related people
- · Theodore Roosevelt
- · Zara Thigpen
- · Ralph Cameron
Themes & tags
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