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| "First
national Bank of Whitewright was built 1905 and was sole survivor
when entire downtown was destroyed by fire in 1911." - Photo
courtesy Brett Christoffel, June 29, 2008 |
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
after the 1911 Fire
Old photo submitted by Brett Christoffel |
Photo
courtesy Brett Christoffel, June 29, 2008
More Texas Banks |
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"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." - Photo courtesy Stephen
Taylor May 2006 |
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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. Of course, the City may have run the school for all I know.
Further information is desirable. 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 |
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
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