Jim Ned High School - Warrior Yearbook (Tuscola, TX)

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Over Hardware. Ovalo. Texas sleeveless knit shirts. Ovalo has gained territory twice. First, on August 21, 1925 , when the County School Board consolidated Guion and Oak Lawn districts with Ovalo, to form the Ovalo Rural High School dis- trict, the only one in Taylor County to this date, and one of the first in the state to be formed under an act of the thirty-ninth Legislature. The legality of the act of the County School Board was questioned and for several years the matter was before the courts. The final verdict was favorable to the consolidation and the act was never rescinded . The second time Ovalo gained new school terri- tory was on April 18, 1933, when the County School Board partitioned the Dewey School Dis- trict and gave three sections of land , one fourth of the district, to Ovalo . The first school board to serve the new Ovalo Rural High School District was appointed by for- mer County School Superintendent, M.A. Wil- liams. They were the L.H. Tucker and Carl Moore , who represented the Old Oak Lawn Dis- trict: J .H. Moody and C.R. Cottrell, who repre- sented the Old Guion District. A .D . Boozer and J .E. White, who represented the old Ovalo Dis- trictg and 1.1. Stewart, who represented the new district 45 at large. In 1926 , school bonds to the amount of S30 , 000 , were voted to build a modern rural high school plant in the newly consolidated district. These bonds were not sold until six years later, when the present modern and commodious school was erected on a new site in south Ovalo but still at the foot of Bald Eagle Mountain. In 1929 , the only three busses in Taylor County were used to transport children to and from the Ovalo School. That year they transported one hundred eighty-five children at public expense. The Ovalo School consolidated with Tuscola in 1946 , forming the South Taylor Independent School District. At that time the Ovalo School was used for the elementary pupils and Tuscola took the high school pupils. Later on the elemen- tary pupils were transfered to Lawn. The well-constructed building was vacant for several years then sold in 1957 to W.W. Hereford for the brick. Compiled by Della Landers Bibliography Our Homes and Country Illustrated-1903 Taylor County Court House-School deed recorded Feb. 7, 1893 The Southern Eagle COvalo Weekly Newspaperj The Texas Almanac-1910 The Eagle fOvalo Newsweeklyj 1942 Kiwanigram , April 3, 1946 , Abilene , Texas Abilene Reporter News-1959 Taylor County Records-Dr. James Robins Ovalo, 1931-1942 The Ovalo Eagle colors were black and gold. Six- man football games were played on dirt fields in the afternoon because there were no lights for night games. Basketball Cboys onlyj and volleyball Cgirls onlyj could be played at night in Ovalo's excellent well- lighted gym. Showers were located under the p bleachers but there were no indoor toilets. Softball, baseball, and track were popular spring sports. The building had steam heat, a well-equipped laboratory and a well-stocked library . Assembly was held each Friday in the converted- to-auditorium gym . Basketball goals were raised into the celingg folding chairs set up facing the stage located in the north end. There was entertainment by students, teachers, professional traveling shows, or college students practicing their plays. School plays, talent shows Cusually musicalj, and the annual Halloween Carnival were popular community enter- tainment. School days at Ovalo during the late thirties and early forties offered excitement in the simple things of life: emphasis was on self-reliance and basic edu- cation. Did any students own a car? Few teachers did. Many of that era remember Frank Hogue , Supt. . basketball and volleyball coach. history teacher, a firm but fair disciplinarian. We remember also the immaculately kept front lawn and building with vandalism almost unknown. Many good teachers taught and many good citizens evolved at Ovalo. Juarie Walden Aldridge The Small Town of Lawn Present day Lawn was established in 1910 when the Sante Fe Failroad was built. It was named for the attractive site selected. It grew and at one time had a hotel. It was built by E. Mitchell and had 10 rooms. These were above the business which was downstairs. The Griffin Drug Store was owned and operated by A.E. Griffin. He sold ice cream at two dips for a nickel. From 1921 to 1948 , fountain drinks were 5d and 10:5 , milk shakes were 254, and banana splits were 35d . Dr. Le Gear was always there to stock any needed medicine. The local doctor was Dr. Parker. Miles Roberts was the proprietor of the bank. The Lawn

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Ovalo School Started As Bald Eagle School The early settlers who had bought land and the merchants of old Lawn Ctwo miles north of the present Lawnl realized the need of educational facilities and circulated a petition until they received the required number of signatures requesting a school for their children. The site of the first school building in the Ovalo Rural High School District was deeded to County Judge D . G. Hill and his successors in office by Mr. J.M. Wendelkin and his wife, Sarah M. Wendelkin, for the sum of one dollar. The deed was made and signed in Dallas, Texas, the twenty-fifth day of February 1891: but was not filed for record in the Taylor County Court House until the seventh day of February, 1893. It called for five acres of land taken in a square, out of the southeast corner of the Hood County School Land Survey of four hundred acres. It was located one half mile directly east of Bald Eagle Mountain. Mr. A . B. Britton later acquired ownership of the remaining portion of the Hood County School Land Survey, which gave rise to the impression that he and Mrs. Britton were the donors of the five-acre plot. In 1891 the mountain where Ovalo is now located was named Bald Eagle. On May, 1893, the Commissioners' Court established School Dis- trict number 19, the Bald Eagle School District, out of a part of the Jim Ned District and a part of the Tuscola District. The first school was a one-room , box house , fourteen by sixteen feet. It was furnished with long, home-made pine benches with slanted tops for desks, a blackboard made of twelve-inch pine boards painted black, and a wood stove in the center of the room. A water barrel mounted on a slide to haul drinking water with one tin cup tied on the barrel served as their water fountain. Thirty-five pupils were enrolled the first year. Their teacher was Miss Ella Mills. The first trus- tees were Mr. S.N. Landers, Mr. R.F. Ivey, and Mr. I .R. Landers. When the pupils took all the subjects taught in the school, they quit-no diplo- mas or graduation. Bald Eagle school children had very little ground equipment so they had to play games. Some of the most popular were Wolf Over the River, Red Man's Bluff, Mumble Peg, Marbles, Drop the Handkerchief , Pop the Whip, and Base- ball. Their Saturday night parties were held in the homes and they played Snap and Round Games. In the Round Games they sang and stepped to their music. Children walked to school: some had to walk three or four miles. They had to wear warm clothing such as high-topped shoes, blacked-rib- bed stockings, union suits, and leggins because the boys wore knee pants. They got very warm on some days playing outside and that was when you could smell the sweet aroma from the asafe- tida bags that their mothers put around their necks. Asafetida was to ward off all disease but many of those little bags were lost on the way to school. The string could be broken. Kids were always glad when dinner-time came even if they did have to eat cold food from their buckets of different sizes or the square lunch boxes. The year 1906-07 saw a second room of the same box construction added to the building which already had been enlarged onceg and for the first time an assistant teacher was employed. The year 1908-O9 was the last school in the two-room box house. The teachers were Miss Helen Kesslar, principal, and Miss Lena Tikker, assistant. With the coming of the Abilene Southern Rail- road . a new town came into being. Lots went on sale in 1909 , and in less than twelve months Ovalo had forty-six business houses and distinct industries. Some of these structures were of brick and cement. Two churches were included. The 1909-10 session did not open until January , 1910 . But when it did open, the school was housed in a commodious four-room, two-story brick structure that had just been completed from the proceeds of an S8 , OOO bond issue. This school building stood only a few hundred yards north of Bald Eagle Mountain in the new town of Ovalo , which had sprung up in 1909 on the Abilene Southern Railroad. From this date there have not been fewer than four teachers on the faculty. And the name Bald Eagle School was dropped in favor of Ovalo School. The Ovalo School activities were a carry over from Bald Eagle School except basketball and track events were added. The girls' team wore black sateen bloomers and white middy blouses. The boys' team wore baseball trunks and white

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' 1-pl' ' Lf 'r .L.g. .1 4 'il ie- Downtown on a Saturday afternoon. People always gathered around for the weekly drawing, hopeing that their number would come up. .L fr-1,1 ff--,,.,:w , y amen' - f The bank and old Lawn Hotel The hotel has since burned and the bank is now City Hall I 1 P1 Hi fffE5fgQitU'a:.1 1 . V 'll -. 1- 2 '- . r gf -.1 I. - fc' .7 I gif ' ' ' -'P.f5W,y ni I 4-if . ,115 d. b.'1.g,A,,--tisg . -' -1' ' ,- -- wait . Z. - , - . 1 ' . ,v I 5 E- 'ur- . . -..'-H ' - .5 5-3 -'U' l . , . ., .. t. ., . . g ' W -I ,I t' . I..-V , nd, ij, I I - 1 -.g - , , . , - 1 , ,, .... . -- I . 4 ,- ,, u, I v J..-. I , -4 ,H -gg H' , I' viz. - ' ' ' -.. . 2 1, f t . . 7 ' ' Oil sprang up in the district and helped the financial situation of the school. The school can be seen in the background . VIH 'I I 1-FI The old Griffin Drug Store, owned and operated by A.E. Griffin. It was a place to go for refreshments on a hot day. Prices were reasona- ble, too. City Hall is now in the old building. The original vault is still used for city documents. In 1946 , Herbert Poor opened two picture shows for the entertainment of the citizens. The walk-in was downtown and was operated during the winter months. The drive-in was only used during the warmer part of the year. Admission was only 85gt for adults and 1595 for children. However, to sit in the small, three row bal- cony would cost a little extra . Mostly westerns were shown, with stars such as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. The drive-in brought more of a variety with musicals, starring Gary Cooper and Alan Lad. For added enter- tainment, during the Fall, a skating rink moved into Lawn. The charge was 1598 if you had your own skates, but if you used their skates, it would cost you 25gt. Every Saturday afternoon, a drawing was held down- town. Each merchant donated one dollar and tickets were sold. Stubs were drawn and if the person wasn't there, ten dollars was added until somebody won. Today, many of the original buildings still stand . Now Lawn has one grocery store , one cafe, two beauty shops, four gas stations, a laundry, and other busi- nesses. Dean Riley Mrs. Lee Wilson Mr. Bartis Knight Lawn: Originally One Room The Lawn School was established in 1910 from the Oak Lawn, Ovalo , and Dewey Districts. Though the original building was only one room, a four room build ing was built in 1912 . This was made possible by an increase in taxes and bonds in the amount of S6000 . It was a red brick structure with four good classrooms downstairs and a large auditorium upstairs,