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