Central School
Escuela Central

Central School

In late 1882, the newspaper headline read: "$700 has been subscribed by the citizens of El Paso, Texas in lands, money and all material for the purpose of erecting a public school." So, the mission began. An election took place for a board, selecting O.T. Bassett as the first president, with Mayor Joseph Magoffin overseeing the new school board. In the fall of 1883, El Paso, now a progressive city of 4,000, saw the first El Paso public school officially open. There were 200 students in an old wooden structure. The principal, John Merrill, received $150 a month and used his own furniture. Only one teacher was hired, Anna Moore, and she received $75 a month. Knowing that more needed to be done, Calvin Esterly, the first superintendent, signed a contract to have a new large schoolhouse built that could be for all the students of El Paso. In 1884, it was built on the corner of Myrtle and Campbell streets and was called Central School. EPISD was home to the first public kindergarten class in Texas in 1893 at Central Elementary School. In 1885, the first high school was established and it was on the second floor of that same building. The subjects deemed critical, at that time, included mathematics, grammar and, at the top of the list, penmanship.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Reference ID: Public School House

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

Aztec Calendar

The Aztec Calendar in downtown El Paso is one of three replicas ...

Aztec Calendar

The Aztec Calendar in downtown El Paso is one of three replicas ...

Lobby - Interior Of Camino Real - El Paso, Texas

Title: S. EL PASO ST., 115-117 S. EL PASO ST., INTERIOR, LOBBY - ...

Border Inspection

Title: Plant quarantine inspectors examining packages brought ...

Freight Train Inspection

Inspecting a freight train from Mexico for smuggled immigrants. ...

Mexicans Entering Border

Mexicans entering the United States. United States immigration ...

Celebration For A President

The safest guardians of Liberty's Flag - the public schools - ...

Kress Building

The Kress building is located at the corner of N. Oregon and ...

Rosa Washington, ex-slave, El Paso - 1937

Rosa Washington of El Paso, Texas who was an ex-slave. Date of ...

President's Visit

Roosevelt's reception at El Paso --March 1911--Theodore ...

Mexicans Entering The United States - 1938

United States immigration station, El Paso, Texas - June 1938

Gardner Hotel

The Gardner Hotel was opened in 1922 by Preston E. Gardner at ...

Gardner Hotel

The Gardner Hotel was opened in 1922 by Preston E. Gardner at ...

De Soto Hotel

The De Soto Hotel has been a constant in the downtown El Paso ...

El Paso U. S. Courthouse

The image shows the El Paso U. S. Courthouse. The U.S. District ...

Confluencia

Public Art Artists: Cynthia Patterson and Hank Saxe Materials: ...

Cavalry Man Public Art

Public Art Artist: Jose Ruiz De Rivera Installed in 1939, ...

Bataan Trainway Fence - Reclaimed Crossing

Artist: Bruce Taylor The work relies heavily upon the use of ...

Bataan Trainway Fence - La Plaza de Los Lagortos

Artist: Leticia Huerta Huerta’s design concept is inspired ...

Bataan Trainway Fence - FerroCarrilero

Artist: Art Garcia Garcia’s design for Campbell St is ...

Aguacero

Aguacero is a 45-ft tall abstract steel sculpture evoking an El ...

Dave's Pawn Shop

Dave's Pawn Shop opened in 1950. Dave's Pawn Shop is one of ...

Downtown Ballpark

Since spring 2014 the ballpark is home of El Paso's Triple A ...

home.search_collection