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History
in a Pecan Shell
The town was named after investor William
Whitewright in 1878, as the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad was fast approaching.
Whitewright platted the town and lots were soon being sold by his agents. In the
1880s the town had all essential businesses as well as a private school, Grayson
College, and a public school.
A post office was granted in 1888. The
population was nearly just over 1,800 by 1900 and 1,666 twenty-years later.
Whitewright was served by th MKT and the Cotton Belt through the 1920s. Whitewright
enjoyed a continued success as a supply center and shipping point for farmers.
The population after WWII
remained at a respectable 1,537 although businesses declined.
Whitewright
Past & Present - Photo Gallery |
| Downtown
Whitewright after the 1911 Fire |
| First
National Bank of Whitewright, built 1905, survived the 1911 fire that destroyed
downtown. - June 2008 Photo |
| Another
view of Downtown Whitewright. 2011 Photo |
| | Site
of Former Whitewright High School"This
is an interesting little building we found on the site of the former Whitewright
High School. While the former Whitewright High School is gone, this building remains.
Our research finds that the building was built between 1900-1905 and
was used as a laboratory for the former Grayson College campus in Whitewright.
Sometime around 1920, after the new Whitewright High School was built
on the site the building sat dormant for some time. But by 1929, the building
was being used for "Manual training". When I was in school, we called that "Shop".
The building today seems well secured and is owned by the First Baptist
Church in Whitewright.
It is all that remains of the old Whitewright
High School and Grayson college before that." - Stephen
Taylor, May 2006 photo | |
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| "This is the
gymnasium/auditorium at Whitewright. Built in 1936, it appears to be a collaboration
between the City of Whitewright and the School District. Today, the First Baptist
church owns the property and the gym is being used as an activity center. All
the windows have been replaced, and it has a new roof." - Stephen
Taylor, May 19, 2006 |
Where
to Stay - Whitewright Area Hotels
Sherman
Hotels Whitewright
Texas Forum Impersonation
of a Bricklayer
About Whitewright High School Gym and Lab
Dear TE, I attended and graduated from Whitewright High School. I used to live
nearby I am writing after reading (the first of many) your website has for WHS.
The gym information and picture caught my eye. As well the "City and School"
connection to building it. The crew was a WPA crew, if I remember correctly. Also,
there was a man on the construction crew who did not know how to lay brick, but
said he did! This caused two things to happen. One is he lost his job. The other
is that after catching the errors, the crew placed one huge block/brick upon another,
not staggering it as usual! This is on the face of the building. This story was
told to me when I found a man and son at dusk looking for the blocks and errors
with a flashlight to point them out. The error was fixed also by placing a "half
block" or brick in the front of the building or elsewhere.
The Lab building
was always shut whenever I went to school there. It was said to be a museum, a
site dedicated to the old College days. I used to see a reunion there about every
year, on Sundays. One day after I was grown I passed and recognized this gathering
at the building as the suppossed "reunion." Everyone, as usual, was dressed in
suits and "to the "nines." I also swear I recognized one of the people as being
the famous "Higgins" character on the television show, "Magnum P.I." Now you may
understand why I'd like my name witheld. I am pretty sure it was he, as I used
to watch that show and read a bit about it. Seeing pictures of him (don't remember
his real name) I also remembered that in one episode he played his "twin brother"
from Texas. I wondered at the [difficulty of] swapping an English Brogue (mum
was a Scot ) to a Texas drawl! - NWBR, Somewhere in Texas, September 22, 2007
Related Topics: Texas | Texas
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