Historic schools that call Dallas home

Editor’s Note: Take a look back at the Dallas Morning News Archives.

In educational institutions, many Dallasites spent their formative years learning, making memories, and preparing for adulthood. Of the local Dallas facilities, only six schools have the distinction of receiving an award on the National Register of Historic Places recognizing them for their remarkable history and architecture.

To be included in the register, the facility must be relevant “significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture”. And they should contribute to understanding the foundation of the nation. The Dallas Independent School District’s selected schools meet national criteria and contribute to our understanding of the culture and community of the city of Dallas.

Take a look back at The News archives to learn more about these historic institutions.

Crockett School (Alcalde Street / Crockett School Historic District)

• 401 N. Carroll Ave.
• National Register: 1995
• Dallas Landmark: 1993
• Architect: CW Bulger & Son
• Style (national register): Classical Revival
• Style (List of Monuments): Italian Renaissance
• Other names: Davy / David Crockett Elementary School

The Crockett School has had many names since it was built in 1903. It was originally named after real frontier crosser David or Davy Crockett, who became known in popular culture as the king of the wild frontier. In 1954 a character based on Crockett was shown on television and the following year Bill Hayes released the song “The Ballad of Davy Crockett”. Headmaster Troy Bond told The News, “Isn’t it wonderful that of all the schools in the world ours is the only one with a school song that is high on the charts.”

In 1989, Crockett was the oldest company school in DISD, but it was in poor physical condition. Parents raised concerns about overcrowding and poor lighting, and it closed that same year. The building stood empty for over a decade.

Today the Crockett School is part of a historic neighborhood in East Dallas. It received the Preservation Achievement Award from Preservation Dallas in 2015. It was bought by Dallas developer Prevarian Cos in 2017. and turned it into luxury apartments – The Principal Residences.

Dallas High School (Dallas High School District)

Dallas High School, c. 1910 – Architects Lang & Witchell completed the school in 1908. Photo courtesy of the Dallas Historical Society.(TDMN)

• 2218 Bryan Street
• Dallas Landmarks: 2000
• Architect: Lang & Witchell
• Style: classic revival
• Other names: Central High School, Main High School, Bryant Street High School, Dallas Technical High School, Norman Robert Crozier Technical School, Business Management Magnet Center

The city’s oldest surviving high school building is in downtown Dallas, just off the DART line. Dallas High School, one of many names, was built in 1907 on the site of its predecessor, Central High School. While Central High’s wooden building was being replaced, their football tradition continued with the Dallas High team mentioned as early as the fall of 1907.

Dallas High School Football Team in 1906 [from information on back of photo: front row, from left: Ted Weston, Charlie Dealey, Ray Bregg; second row: Seth Simmons, Ben Bailey and Mays Bassett; third row: Louis Brown, J. C. Tenison, Clarence Breg, Landon Cullum and Allen T. Bassett. Back row: Dr. R.A. Trumbull, John Bookhout, Thomas Munger, Bert Adoue, Stafford Kelley and J. D. Cullum.](TDMN)

In 1942 it was renamed Crozier Technical High School. This school was unique in that it focused on preparing students for professions after graduation, including careers in cosmetics, auto mechanics, and radio repair.

The Dallas Trustees voted to close and sell the property in 1995. It was bought by developer Robert Yu in 1998, but was partially destroyed by fire. Yu tried unsuccessfully to tear it down and it was put on the market. It was purchased in 2015 and renovations began two years later to convert it into office space.

WH Adamson High School

Drawing from the DISD vault of the new Oak Cliff High School, now WH Adamson High School, in 1916.(Randy Eli Grothe / 99071)

• 201 E. 9th St.
• National Register: 2011
• Dallas Landmarks: 2011
• Architect: William B. Ittner
• Style (national register): Georgian Revival
• Style (List of Landmarks): American Classical Revival
• Other names: Oak Cliff High School, Adamson Youth & Family Center (current)

Oak Cliff High School was built in 1915 but renamed WH Adamson in 1935 to honor a longtime and beloved headmaster.

The school was known for promoting war effort on the home front. During World War I, the school held a war bread demonstration to help preserve food. Participants exchanged recipes in accordance with government guidelines on food restrictions.

During World War II, the school held boxing matches to teach self-defense and athleticism to future military personnel, ROTC cadet officers conducted fitness classes, and groups sewed children’s clothing for the Red Cross. The handicraft class built model aircraft to teach the differences between friendly and enemy aircraft designs.

In 2009, The News reported on efforts by alumni groups campaigning for milestone status to keep them safe from demolition. The original building is still a listed building and a new WH Adamson High School has been built just one block from its parent location.

Forest Avenue High School

An undated photo of James Madison High School, formerly Forest Avenue High School.(TDMN)

• 3000 Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd.
• National Register: 1995
• Dallas Landmark: 1993
• Architect: William B. Ittner
• Style: Italian Renaissance Revival
• Other names: James Madison High School (current)

Forest Avenue was built in 1916 and soon appeared on The News, often for its many athletic achievements. These included city championships and a 1930 soccer game at the brand new Fair Park Stadium, now known as the Cotton Bowl.

In 1956, the Dallas Board of Education voted to close Forest Avenue due to low enrollments, a controversial decision that The News closely covered. Many families advocated keeping the school open, while a representative of the NAACP denounced the board’s lack of willingness to integrate. Forest Avenue’s white students were transferred to Crozier Technical High School. The school reopened in the fall for black students under the name James Madison High School.

The 1960 state championship photo of the James Madison High School basketball team won by coach Euril Henson when Dave Stallworth was on his team. Coach Henson is fourth from the left, in the back row, in a white suit. Dave Stallworth is third from left, in the front row, just below Coach Henson.(CHRIS HAMILTON / 71255)

Since the audience reallocation and name change, James Madison has remained dominant in basketball, including the 1960 state championship team with future NBA player Dave Stallworth.

James W. Fannin Elementary School

• 4800 Ross Ave.
• National Register: 1995
• Dallas Landmark: 1996
• Architect: Lang & Witchell
• Style (national register): Tudor Revival
• Style (Landmark List): Neoclassical
• Other names: Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship Academy (current)

The James W. Fannin Elementary School was built in 1915 and named after the Texas Army Colonel who died with his men at the Battle of Goliad in 1836.

After years under this name, Fannin was closed in 2012 due to the low number of registrations. The building reopened in 2015 as the Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship Academy.

Ascher-Silberstein School

• 2425 Kiefernstrasse
• National Register: 1995
• Dallas Landmarks: Not on the list
• Architect: Unknown
• Style: Italian Renaissance Revival
• Other names: Charles Rice Elementary School, Charles Rice Learning Center (current)

This school was built in 1922 after the school’s namesake, a prominent Dallas businessman, ranch owner, and philanthropist, bequeathed $ 5,000.

Charles Rice Elementary School in South Dallas is named after Charles Cato Rice (pictured here), a pioneer educator and former slave.(TDMN)

In 1953, Ascher Silberstein was closed due to falling visitor numbers and the white students were transferred. It was renamed Charles Rice Elementary after the early educator in Dallas, and the school reopened to black students. In 1956, a school for white students called Ascher Silberstein was built on Hollis Road.

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