Weslaco High School
Weslaco, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Weslaco Independent School District formed in 1921, when residents petitioned the Texas Legislature to separate from Donna ISD. Upon the district's creation, board members planned for the first school building, designed by San Antonio architect Harvey P. Smith and completed by Brownsville's H.L. Fitch and Co. by Feb. 1923. The one-story school building with raised basement is built of reinforced concrete and hollow tile, faced with dark Butler brick and lighter bands near the roofline. The recessed central entry has a prominent door surround and pediment. The structure and adjacent Weslaco Junior High were threatened with demolition before being rehabilitated for the 2006-07 school year. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2008
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Weslaco's school district was born in 1921 when residents petitioned to split from Donna ISD, and by 1923 its first building rose—a reinforced-concrete and hollow-tile structure faced in dark Butler brick, designed by San Antonio architect Harvey P. Smith. Its recessed entry, pediment, and banded brickwork marked it as a point of civic pride in the young Valley town. Slated for demolition, it and the neighboring junior high were instead rehabilitated for use again in 2006.
Why it matters
The school reflects the rapid civic institution-building of the early-20th-century Rio Grande Valley and a community's later choice to preserve rather than raze its heritage.
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Related people
- · Harvey P. Smith
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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