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History in
a Pecan Shell
The town was named
after Ballingeran C. R. Crews. The town dates from the late 1880s
when the people constructed a school. In 1892 a combination store
/ post office was opened but the post office closed in 1922. No figures
are gven prior to 1940 when the town had a population of 150 people
and a single business.
The school was shut down in the late 1940s and the Baptist church
closed twenty years later, leaving only the Methodist church. |
| "The gym
is completely intact and is well maintained. The roof is reasonably
new...and the building has tables inside. It is probably being used
as a community center. The grounds are also well-kept."
- Stephen
Taylor |
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Crews, Texas
Forum
Subject:
Crews School
I was raised about 16 miles from Crews, Texas and attended school
at Crews until it closed about 1949.
The building that is identified in your photo as "The School Building"
is actually the Methodist Church, which was located adjacent to
the Gymnasium. The main school building has been torn down.
The actual school building was constructed of dark red brick and
held four rooms and a large hallway from the front entrance to the
back door. On either side of the hallway, there were large sliding
doors that when opened, converted into a fair sized auditorium and
the heating was from large coal stoves in the corner's of each room.
The only other class rooms were later built in a wood frame building
to the west of the brick building. The restroom facilities were
behind the wood frame and brick building, one for the girls and
the other for the boys. The Gymnasium was a treasured feature of
the school which excelled with it's basketball teams. There was
a stage at one end of the gym where the senior students performed
plays and elementary classes performed arts and entertainment.
My Parents, Harvey G. and Julia Ioan (McCarter) Bradley lived a
few miles to the west of Crews when they were first married. They
farmed a small piece of land which was located north of the current
Winters/Coleman highway.
My oldest sister, Lorena Emazell (Bradley) Evans attended this same
school and also did her student teaching here after two years study
at Howard Payne College in Brownwood,
Texas.
Many years prior to Lorena's attending the Crews School, my maternal
grandparents, Joe and Fanny (Henderson) McCarter as well as my great-great
grandmother, Aribella Henderson, who had 16 children of her own
and also raised three grandchildren, lived in Crews for many years
and my uncle Elmer McCarter ran one of the horse-drawn freight wagons
between Ballinger
and Crews.
I have many fond memories of this little town. There was a tornado
that almost wiped the entire town away many years ago. When I attended
school there, some of the foundations of homes could still be seen
east of the Methodist Church.
One of my most favorite memories is of my friend "Epaw" Pape, who
had a service station and small grocery store located adjacent to
the Winters/Coleman highway, west of the school. Every school day,
at noon, Epaw (his nickname) would prepare a delicious sandwich
for me. I was in elementary school at ages 8 to 13 and I still recall
how good those meals tasted and I know that a sandwich is a sandwich,
so I feel sure that it was Epaw's pleasant personality that made
such a difference.
I also recall with much pleasure, my friendship with Avis Cummings.
We were best of friends for all of our elementary days and our voices
blended quite well when we sang some of those WW2
war songs such as "Each Night at Nine."
I enjoy your Texas Escapes magazine. Thank you for producing it.
- Rosemary B. Davis, San Angelo, Texas, July 12, 2007
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