A History of Crosby County 1876-1977 Page: 46
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LORENZO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Fred Maxey, an old timer and early set-
tler of Lorenzo, told the writer that "In the
summer of 1911, Arthur Kelsey and Henry
Smyer saw the great need for a school.
They-hitched the horse to the buggy and
covered a 40 square mile area in two coun-
ties; seeing the school board members and
commissioners of each county.
They called a meeting and created the
Lorenzo Common School District." It con-
tained 40 square miles of territory.
D. A. Edwards, County Superintendent
during this research, reported the Lorenzo
School District was formed in 1912. The
first trustees, according to Roy Terrell,
were three in number: namely, Arthur Kel-
sey, T. A. Smith, and J. R. Terrell, the latter
being father of Roy Terrell. Pleasant Hill
Common School District was dissolved in
1940 and territory of same was divided
between Rails and Lorenzo. This addition
to Lorenzo District increased the area to 56
square miles. Lorenzo Common School
District had been voted Independent dur-
ing administration of John Leverett, who
was superintendent from 1920 to 1924. At
the time of change from Common to Inde-
pendent District a building bond in amount
of $60,000 was voted.
Pleasant Hill Common School District
was originally created from territory
belonging to Estacado, Lorenzo and Rails.
When the P.H. District was dissolved, Lor-
enzo and Rails were the sole beneficiaries
of this territory. Action by County School
Board thoroughly aroused tempers in Esta-
cado District. Some Estacado District resi-
dents claimed that at the creation of Pleas-
ant Hill District, it was understood that if or
when the P.H. District was dissolved that
Estacado would get back the territory it
gave up. This grievance by some Estacado
residents inflamed tempers when the prop-
osition of consolidating Estacado and Lor-
enzo became an issue nine years later.
The proposition proposing consolidation
of Estacado and Lorenzo came before vot-
ers of each district in July, 1949. Consoli-
dation failed. The proposition came up a
second time in September, 1949. When
school began in Estacado in the fall of
1949, few students came. Some attended
Idalou and some Lorenzo. At this second
election, a majority of the voters voted in
favor of the consolidation, so Estacado and
Lorenzo merged into a single consolidated
county line independent school district.
The district was renamed "Lorenzo Inde-
pendent School District".
This consolidation increased the territory
of the district to 96 square miles.
Enrollment at the Robertson Independ-
ent School District gradually fell until many
of the patrons of that district wanted their
children to attend a larger school. Inter-
ested citizens signed petitions asking for
an election to determine whether or not to
consolidate with Lorenzo. This election
failed in Robertson District, whose trustees
looked with disfavor on consolidation. After
five elections, one of which ended in a tie
and consequently a failure, the districts
were consolidated in 1960. The newly con-
solidated district was composed of approx-
imately 200 square miles of territory,
stretching 30 miles from the south bound-
ary of Crosby County to the north bound-
ary. The average width of the district was
about 5 miles. The shape might remind one
46 of an hour glass, wider at both ends than in
the middle.At this time, there remained one small
school district north of the Lorenzo District
within the boundaries of Crosby County,
the Farmer District. It contained about 26
square miles of land. It was old, being one
of the early school districts formed in
Crosby County. Residents of Farmer were
divided in opinion about whether to go to
Lorenzo or Rails, they could foresee going
to one or the other was imminent. Those
favoring Lorenzo were the first to file a peti-
tion for a consolidation election. The dis-
tricts merged into one in 1962. This con-
solidation enlarged the Lorenzo District to
approximately 226 square miles. The
Superintendent of Lorenzo stated in 1962
that, "Presently the Lorenzo Consolidated
District is bounded on all sides by Inde-
pendent Districts of some substance, it is
presumed, therefore, that the boundaries
of the present (Lorenzo) District are sub-
stantially complete".
SCHOOL BUILDING PROGRAMS
The first school taught in Lorenzo was
the school term of 1911-1912. The school
district was in the formation stage. The
building was more or less borrowed.
The first school was held in a building
which was located on Harrison Avenue on
lot #50. Viola Ellison was the teacher of
this one-room school. Twenty-eight pupils
were enrolled.
In 1912 a $5,000 bond issue was sold to
provide funds to build a two-story brick
building of four classrooms. The first floor
was half below ground level and half
above. W. P. Lamar was principal.
The third school building in Lorenzo was
constructed on block #38, just south of
the first. Cost was funded by a $60,000
bond issue. John Leverett was superin-
tendent, the board of trustees were: G. J.
Catching, Pres.; Emzy Pieratt, Sec.; W. W.
Anderson; T. A. Smith; M. F. Rushing; J. E.
Huckabay; and George E. Mayes. The
building was completed in September,
1922. The District voted to become an
Independent District.Lorenzo High School completed Sept. 1922.
First Lorenzo School completed in 1914.
By 1928 additional building needs were
obvious. Already the 1912 building was in
use. A $50,000 bond issue was approved
by voters to provide funds to build a new
high school. The site was block #39, east
of the 1922 building. Plans were conceived
by 1927-28 Superintendent, L. Z. Manire,
the structure was completed while O. G.
Fagala was superintendent. The following
were trustees: T. G. Hendrick, Sr. Pres., W.
G. Abernathy, Sec., Irl Robertson, D. O.
Fox, W. C. Stobaugh, L. T. Lott, and A. J.
Sanders.
A concrete block gymnasium was con-
structed with proceeds of $9,000 bond
issue in 1941 during administration of H. H.
Nicholas, superintendent. The community
was proud of its first gymnasium. The 1912
four-room brick structure had been con-
verted into a miniature gym but was very
unsatisfactory.
On opening night of the gym, several vis-
iting teams played basketball. Texas Tech
Freshmen beat Sundown Independents,
(32-22), Lorenzo boys beat Robertson (24-
21), Floydada beat Idalou (18-17). The
girls played but their game was not
recorded. Dorthy (Lackey) Reynolds was a
participant in that first game.
The sixth building program was com-
pleted in 1952. A $250,000 issue enabled
the Board to convert the three story of
1922 into a two-floor structure and add
wing rooms to front and west. Board per-
sonnel were: R. L. Ormon, Pres.; Wilson
Kittrell, Sec.; Houston Pearson; Willard
Pollock; Joe Jenkins; Esto Kelley; and
Charlie (Dip) Fox. W. O. Cherry was Super-
intendent.
Seventh program, financed by a
$165,000 bond issue, constructed a new
gymnasium and vocational department.
This new gym was located about 75 yards
north of existing buildings, homemaking
and vocational agriculture departments
were attached to east side of high school
building of 1928. Bond issue was dated
1957. Governing Board was Wilson Kittrell,
Pres.; Willard Pollock, V.P.; E. J. Batchel-
ler, Sec.; Charlie (Dip) Fox; Joe Jenkins; L.
W. Bownds; C. E. Killian; and Jerry Bea-
vers. W. O. Cherry was Superintendent.
Eighth building program began in 1963.
It was financed by two bond issues of
$500,000 and $200,000. This structure
included facilities for the high school divi-
sion, a physical education gymnasium, an
underground cafeteria and a music depart-
ment for total school use. These were 20
year bonds. The last bond will mature in
1983. The governing board during this
venture was George Poulson, Pres.; Joe
Darden, V.P.; L. W. Bownds; Reagan
(Jake) Morrison; Harold Campbell; Elmer
Simmons; and B. R. Ashley. W. O. Cherry
was Superintendent.
School Superintendents: Viola Ellison,
1911-12; W. P. Lamar, 1912-15; R. E.
Ford, 1915-16; G. L. Farrer, 1916-20;
John Leverett, 1920-24; A. C. Johnson,
1924-27; L. Z. Manire, 1927-28; 0. G.
Fagala, 1928-30; H. B. Lane, 1930-31; A.
C. Sharp, 1931-33; G. S. Dowell, 1933-37;
W. E. Petty (died in office), 1937-Nov. 27,
1937; W. H. Scoggins, Nov. 1937-39; H. H.
Nicholas, 1939-43; X. R. Banks, 1943-44;
Dalton James, 1944-49; W. O. Cherry,
1949-1967; Joe Wood, 1967-70; Pat Devi-
ney, 1970-74; Dean Andrews, 1974-pres-
ent. (Researched by W. O. Cherry)
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Crosby County Pioneer Museum. A History of Crosby County 1876-1977, book, 1978; Crosby County, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91041/m1/50/: accessed April 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .