Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas) Page: 17
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a widow from Louisiana, Mrs. Pamela Fran-
cis Callaway Mixon. Mr. Perry, who was
recognized as a French scholar, and Mrs.
Mixon were married at the end of the first
school term.
Other teachers, who later taught in the Old
Rock School, were Professor Shelby King;
Mrs. Georgia Cundiff McSpadden; Professor
W.A. Culberson, father of Charles A. Culber-
son, one-time Texas congressman and sena-
tor, and Olin Culberson, for many years
Texas Railroad Commissioner; Professor
George Sorrell and his primary teacher, Belle
Hamer; a Mr. Middleton; Rebel L. Bewley;
Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Bettis; John A. and Jess
Lomax; Baker Jones; R.L. Batson; Mrs.
Maybelle Jones; Miss Kate McSpadden; Lela
Faye (Tot) Hill (later Mrs. Clarence E.
Carpenter); and Homer Covey.
In 1893, because of the southward mov-
ement of the town and the lack of an adequate
means of crossing the river, the school site
again was moved. A two-story frame struc-
ture was built where the present Clifton
Elementary School now is located.
That time the land upon which the school
was constructed was donated by N. Jacob
Nelson. Two of the first teachers were Rebel
L. Bewley and Oscar J. Rea, Sr., the later
becoming a prominent local businessman.
It was in 1915 that this frame building was
razed to make room at the same location for
a three-story brick school building for Clif-
ton, and during 1939-1940, through the
federally-funded Works Progress Adminis-
tration, the present brick Elementary School
was constructed.
That latter building, in addition to separ-
ate gymnasium, band, and vocational agricul-
ture structures, housed the entire Clifton
Independent Schools system until 1973.
During the years of 1972 and 1973 the
current Clifton High School building was
erected upon a portion of the 222 square
miles of land donated to the school district
by Carl E. Olsen, Sr. That land originally was
owned by N. Jacob Nelson and later for many
years by one of his sons, Albert G. Nelson.
Now the Clifton Independent School Dis-
trict functions upon its above mentioned two
campuses-the Elementary School, contain-
ing kindergarten through the eighth grade,
with 545 students enrolled during 1983-1984
and the High School, composing grades nine
through twelve, with an enrollment of 237
students during the same period. The school
district also operates an athletic complex in
the Clifton City Park.
Eighty-two persons, including a staff of 45
teachers, are employed by the school district.
Other than teachers personnel includes three
administrators, a librarian, a counselor, a
supervisor, two persons in the tax office, and
30 auxiliary employees, such as secretaries,
aides, cafeteria workers, custodians, and bus
drivers.
Buses transport an average of 190 students
daily along six rural routes to and from the
Clifton schools.
Clifton's High School was built at a cost of
$800,000.00 through a 1971 school buildings
unlimited tax bonds series, with the final
payment to be made in 1996. Another tax
bond series was issued for $150,000.00 in 1974
to take care of Elementary School building
improvements. That bond has been paid.
Budget figures for the Clifton Independent
School District for the 1983-1984 school years
were $1,639,141.00.Superintendents of the Clifton Public
Schools, who are known to have had long
office tenures, have been J.M. Bettis, J.C.
Wilkerson, W.D. Raley, Kent Appleby, and
Richard Liardon. Mr. Liardon has held that
position since the 1975-1976 school year
began.
Having served for many years each as
Clifton teachers with special dedication to
their profession have been Mr. and Mrs. J.M.
Bettis and their daughter, Lottie Bettis, Mrs.
Luta Sterling, Walter C. Hansen, Elsie
Coston, Mrs. W.W. Land, Mrs. G.E. McCa-
leb, Mrs. E.E. Schow, Mrs. W.H. McCown,
Oris E. Pierson, Aubrey T. Roberts, Mrs.
W.C. Hurst, Mrs. Otto Gangshei, Mrs. Viola
Raines Richards, Mrs. Margaret Grammer,
Miller Stinson, Mrs. O.R. Jenson, Mrs.
Lawrence C. Ringness, Mrs. George B. Ar-
nold, Mrs. Ray W. Berry, Mrs. P. Joe Dahl,
Mrs. Ottis Tyler, Alva Dowdle, Millie Bron-
stad, James A. Dowdle, Mr. and Mrs. J.E.
Lockhart, David Tyssen, Mrs. W.E. Mitchell,
Mrs. Frederick Pearson, Mrs. Charley Miles,
Mrs. Eddie Parks Martin, Mrs. Phil Gilliam,
Mrs. Lois Rea Perkins, Mrs. Helen Richards
Rester Bronstad, Mrs. J.W. Shipp, Mrs. E.B.
Harris, Mrs. Walker Pullin, and Charles L.
Lindley.
In 1975 a Texas Historical Commission
marker was placed upon the original site of
Clifton College, which was located near the
west boundary of the City of Clifton, and
reads as follows:
"Site of Clifton Lutheran College orga-
nized May 6, 1896, located on land donated
by N.J. Nelson and T.T. Hogevold. The first
building, erected with volunteer donations
and labor, opened as high school October 28,
1897; after 1923 houses artifacts collection of
Jacob Olson, early Norwegian settler. Under
the direction of Dr. Carl Tyssen, president,
college courses were offered in 1922; accredit-
ed as a two-year college in 1924. High School
was discontinued in 1938. College merged
with Texas Lutheran College, Seguin, in
1954. Two buildings formerly used by the
College remain on the site."
During its 57 years of service in Bosque
County Clifton College provided needed
educational opportunities for several thous-
and students, many of whom would have had
no other chance for such advantages.
During its many years as an educational
institution Clifton College received financial
support from Norwegian Lutheran Churches
of America located in Texas and what Bosque
County Lutherans called "the North", which
to them meant Iowa, Minnesota, and Wiscon-
sin, where many other persons of Norwegian
ancestry resided.
Name change from The Lutheran College
of Clifton to Clifton Junior College was made
on October 25, 1945, and the change from
Clifton Junior College to Clifton College took
place on February 22, 1952.
Following Clifton College's merger in 1954
with Texas Lutheran College the Clifton
College Administration Building was sold to
Carl E. Olsen, Sr., a Clifton native then of
Houston and now of Bryan, for whom the
TExas A&M University baseball field is
named.
After 27 years of industrial use, during
which time Mr. Olsen housed his Gearench
Manufacturing Company in the structure, he
donated the building and a portion of the
land surrounding it to the Bosque County
Conservatory of Fine Arts.Interfirst Bank, Clifton
Clifton National Bank
w k
Bosque Bridge (100 years old)-link between old"
and "new" Clifton
Peterson and Grimland Store, circa 1890Goodall-Witcher Hospital; opened 1972
17
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Bosque County History Book Committee. Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas), book, 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91038/m1/33/?q=campbell&rotate=90: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.