1909 - Wichita Falls High School - Wichita Falls, TX - Dated Buildings and Cornerstones on Waymarking.com

While not necessarily notable in its own right -- every big town had that grandiose-looking high school building around this time -- the high school actually played a small part in the evolution of what is now Midwestern State University, as a 1981 Texas Historical Marker explains:

Although private junior colleges were operating in Texas before the 1900s, similar public institutions were not started until the 1920s. The first, Wichita Falls Junior College, began here in 1922, seven years before the adoption of related state legislation. Developed as part of the city school system under the direction of superintendent Randolph Lee Clark, it opened with fifty-five students, ten teachers, and a curriculum of seven subjects. Early classes were held in the high school building at this site.

Planning for a separate junior college campus began in 1928 when Burkburnett educational philanthropists John G. Hardin and his wife Mary offered a matching grant for construction of new facilities. Despite the economic depression of the 1930s, the necessary funds were raised and another site was donated by local residents W.B. Hamilton and N.H. Martin. Renamed Hardin Junior College in honor of the school's benefactors, the institution was relocated by 1938 when the new buildings were completed.

In the 1940s the school became a state-supported four-year college. Renamed Midwestern University in 1950, it has been an instrumental factor in the growth and development of Wichita Falls.

Year of construction: 1909 Full inscription: Wichita Falls High School 1909 Board of Education W.J. Bullock, Pres. M.J. Gardner, V. Pres. W.W. Brown, Sec. T.L. Toland, Supt. L.C. Hinckley J.L. Downing W.E. Frieze T.J. Taylor Cross-listed waymark: Not listed

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