Graduates Then... and Now
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A few loyal graduates from earlier years are pictured at the Annual Reunion for the Classes of the Twenties and Thirties. Here, Zirah Patton Bednar [1934] hugs Mamie Padgett Roberts [1923], with Frances Gilliam Zant [1929] at a breakfast in the school library during the Homecoming of 1999. That afternoon, Ms. Roberts was honored as the oldest graduate present at the Hall of Fame Ceremonies. |
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Some of the elite of our newest class of graduates are (l.to r.) Keely Patterson, Thomas Garza, and Drew McKimmey. Lane Bond [1952] here presents the Glenn T. Guthrie [1927] Scholarship award to the three at the 1999 Scholarship Awards ceremonies in the school auditorium. The three were honored with scholarships for their math excellence and for their intention to pursue careers related to mathematics. |
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The very elite of the class of 1999
academically is Alison Woodall, pictured here front and center
during the awards ceremonies. Grade average 4.0, rank in class
1, now at Texas A&M studying veterinary medicine.
There is much hope for the future, when one sees Alison and this talented, clean-cut group pictured with her here, especially after hearing their accomplishments in their school years. |
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Allison's mother provided this picture in 2000, which was taken in 1999 during her senior year. Next step is to get some up to date information on what she is doing now. Hey, Mom....... |
School Buildings Then... and Now
Click [ Go to History] for a fuller
history of the Big Spring Independent School District and its buildings.
It is copied in at the bottom of this page, but the bookmark will get you
there faster.
 Big
Spring schools started in a tent in 1880, then a two-story frame building
at Fourth and Scurry in 1882. The building pictured here (picture courtesy
of BSHS museum) was built in 1902 with bonds authorized after the
formation of the school district in 1901. Located on the site of the
earlier frame building, this building, named Central Ward School, housed
10 grades until 1919 when a new high school building was built on Runnels
Street. It continued to house the elementary grades until 1931. |
 Between
1916 and 1919, the right half of this building, known affectionately
as "the Runnels Building" (from the street that is seen in the
picture), was constructed to house the high school. In 1924 a junior
high school was built southwest of this building (later Central Ward
Elementary). In 1928 the left half was added. . After 1952
this building became the Junior High School when the high school moved to
the Eleventh Place location. |
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The current high school building as it looked when it was first completed and occupied in 1952. |
 The
current high school building as it looks in this picture taken in June
2000. The additions and remodelling to bring it to this state
were done during 1965-1967. |
In the year 2001, the district plans quite a celebration of its first 100 years, including the publication of a 56 page book. Doyle Phillips ('57) is now designing the layout of the book.
Wind Machines Then... and Now
 This
lonesome looking windmill is the way most water was taken from the ground
for a hundred years or more. Many exes now living had no other source of
water in their childhood homes but these windmills, and
"cisterns", which collected rainwater that ran off the roofs of
the houses.
|
 This
windmill, at the Heritage Museum, is made of wood, as all of them once
were, unlike the windmill in the frame above. "Then", they
were wood, "Now" they are metal. These oldies bring back a lot
of nostalgia for some of us, especially those who lived on farms. |
 This
one is intended to fool you. It is a 2' high model which recently
appeared in an auction, and was handmade by patients and a staff member at
the Vet's Hospital, which won a blue ribbon at the Howard County Fair in
the middle 70's. |
 Today
a very different kind of wind machine is proliferating. 50 of these
are now operating and 3 times that number are in the works. |
 The
two nearest units in this picture are each producing one million six
hundred watts as they operate each day. That's a lot of power!! That
mean's 16,000 bulbs operating at once at 100 watts each. |
 Rising
from the mists of antiquity are the Signal Mountain group in the distance,
whose image form a common bond among all who love Big Spring, contrasting
with the state of the art electrical generators silhouetted in the near
view. Then, but also now. |
 York
Research takes tours to the towers. I didn't make a list, but most
of the group shown here in part, are BSHS exes. |
 Want
a closeup view of one of those towers? Here it is. Want an even closer
view? Well, look up into the inside, in the picture to the right. |
 You
don't see very far up into it, because there are several safety cages
built into the tower so the workmen don't fall too far, or drop a wrench
on their buddies' heads. |
HISTORY OF THE BIG SPRING INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Howard County’s first school, in 1880, was a buffalo hide tent erected near the site of the Big Spring. In November 1882, the commissioner’s court ordered the construction of a two-story frame building for $500.00 on the NW corner of 4th and Scurry. The Big Spring Independent School District was incorporated on December 14, 1901. Bond issues of $16,000.00 and $5,000.00 were approved for a new brick building, Central Ward School, which was erected on the same site and housed 10 grades. In 1909, the original South and North Ward (Bauer) Schools were erected. These were replaced with more modern buildings in 1920 and 1930, respectively.
The first official Big Spring High School graduation ceremonies were held for the Class of 1904. In 1916 a new $40,000.00 high school building was started at 10th and Runnels, and the old Central Ward was used for elementary grades until 1931. In 1919 the District became affiliated with the Texas Education Department (now Agency). In 1924, a new $35,000.00 junior high building was erected on the same campus as the high school; later it became the Central Ward. In 1928, final additions were made to the high school for a total cost of $150,000.00.
The oil boom of the late 1920’s created community growth necessitating the construction of modern elementary school plants throughout the city. Kate Morrison and the original Lakeview were built on the north side of town; also constructed were West Ward (Cedar Crest) and East Ward (Boydstun). In 1935 an apprenticeship-training program (forerunner of the Vocational Education Program) was introduced at Big Spring High School, making it one of the first schools in the state to offer a half-day work program. It is now recognized as the oldest continuously operated cooperative education program in Texas. A new gymnasium/auditorium was added to the high school through a W.P.A. funding program in 1934. College Heights Elementary was constructed in 1938 by the C.C.C.
In 1952, a one and a half million dollar high school on 11th Place was dedicated. It has seen three major additions since then. The old high school on Runnels Street became Big Spring Junior High for grades 7 through 9, and the old Central Ward became part of the junior high campus. In 1954, a landmark court decision by District Judge Charlie Sullivan provided for Big Spring ISD to be the first district in the state to be integrated by court order. During the 1950’s the establishment of Webb Air Force Base caused another rapid growth in population. More schools were built—Washington and Airport in 1951, Lakeview High School in 1954, and Marcy and Park Hill in 1952. In 1957 Goliad Junior High was erected, and the other mid-level school was renamed Runnels Junior High. County schools, Gay Hill and Center Point, were annexed to Big Spring ISD in 1964.
During the next decade Kentwood (1962) and Moss (1965) Elementary Schools were erected. The last addition to the high school in 1967 included an extensive vocational education complex and a planetarium. The 9th grade was moved from the over-crowded junior highs to the high school. District enrollment grew from 411 in 1904 to a peak enrollment of 7,812 in 1965.
In the late 1970’s Webb Air Force Base was deactivated, which created another problem—that of downsizing. Cedar Crest, Boydstun, South Ward were closed and later razed; Gay Hill and Center Point reverted to the landowners. Park Hill was sold to Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church for a private school; Lakeview was leased to the Head Start Program. Runnels housed just 8th graders and Goliad just 6th and 7th graders. However, no district employees lost their jobs.
In the fall of 1999, a state-of-the-art junior high school for 7th and 8th graders was completed on the site of the old Boydstun Elementary at a cost of nine and a half million dollars. The old 1916 senior/junior high school building closed. Goliad kept the district 6th graders and added the 1st through 5th graders from College Heights, which became an alternative school. On its 100th anniversary, the Big Spring ISD had an enrollment of 4,072 students and was the second largest employer in the county.
References:
Getting Started Howard
County’s First Twenty-Five Years, Joe
Pickle. Nortex Press, 1980
Big Spring Herald, Special
Section on Big Spring ISD, January 11, 1981, entitled:
"History of Howard County, 1882-1982"
Records on file in the Superintendent’s Office