W. H. Adamson High School
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
IN 1891, THE NEWLY INCORPORATED TOWN OF OAK CLIFF VOTED TO SEEK BIDS ON A SCHOOL BUILDING. THE CORNERSTONE WAS LAID AT PATTON (THEN ST. GEORGE) AND 10TH STREETS FOR OAK CLIFF CENTRAL SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER 1892 UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE MASONIC GRAND LODGE OF TEXAS. DUE TO OVERCROWDING AT DALLAS HIGH SCHOOL, THERE WAS PRESSURE TO BUILD A NEW HIGH SCHOOL. A STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1915 AT THE CORNER OF 9TH AND BECKLEY. THE ORIGINAL BUILDING BECAME AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND WAS LATER TORN DOWN IN 1926. WHEN PRINCIPAL W.H. ADAMSON, FONDLY REFERRED TO AS “THE GRAND OLD MAN OF OAK CLIFF,” DIED IN MAY 1935, THE SCHOOL BOARD VOTED TO RENAME THE SCHOOL FOR HIM. HE SERVED AS SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS AND PRINCIPAL FOR A TOTAL OF 34 YEARS. OVER THE YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN ADDITIONS AND EXPANSIONS TO THE BUILDING, INCLUDING AN AUDITORIUM, GYM, AND EXTRA CLASSROOMS. TWO RENOVATIONS, MURALS ON THE SECOND FLOOR IN 1934 AND ADDITIONAL WINGS IN 1938, WERE COMPLETED THROUGH NEW DEAL PROGRAMS. THE PRESENT FRONT FAÇADE OF THE W.H. ADAMSON HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING REMAINS THE SAME AS IT HAS SINCE ITS OPENING WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE WINDOWS, WHICH WERE ORIGINALLY WHITE-PAINTED WOOD. OVER THE YEARS, W.H. ADAMSON HIGH SCHOOL HAS GRADUATED MANY NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEADERS AND SERVED AS A CENTER OF COMMUNITY ACTIVITY AND SUPPORT. IT IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST SCHOOLS IN DALLAS COUNTY AND IS THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY OPERATING HIGH SCHOOL IN THE DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT. THE INSTITUTION CONTINUES TO BE A HUB OF LEARNING IN ITS COMMUNITY AND REPRESENTS THE COMMITMENT OF THE AREA TO SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION. (2012)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The story of W.H. Adamson High School reaches back to 1892, when the newly incorporated town of Oak Cliff laid the cornerstone of its Central School under the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas. Overcrowding pushed the community to build a state-of-the-art high school in 1915, later renamed for beloved principal and superintendent W.H. Adamson, the "Grand Old Man of Oak Cliff," after his death in 1935. New Deal programs added murals and wings in the 1930s, and the school remains the oldest continuously operating high school in the Dallas Independent School District.
Why it matters
Adamson High reflects a growing community's early commitment to public secondary education and stands, through its New Deal improvements, as a living record of how Dallas invested in its schools across generations.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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