Historical Marker
Carrollton, TX Highool Sch
Carrollton & Farmers Branch
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Carrollton Historic Site

Carrollton High School

The oldest school in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD.  Land donated by DeWitt Clinton Perry and sister Harriet Perry Warner.  Construction began December 1935, school opened September 14, 1936. Though "DeWitt Perry High School" was in stone over the entrance it was referred to as Carrollton High School and diplomas were issued in that name. DeWitt Perry name officially recognized in 1962 when Turner High School opened and this became a junior high school.


 

 

HISTORICAL MARKER UNVEILING

It seemed more like a school reunion than a ceremony to unveil a historical marker.

About 200 people almost filled the bleachers on the west side of the DeWitt Perry Middle School gymnasium Saturday morning for a ceremony preceding the unveiling of a historical marker in front of the site of the old Carrollton High School.

About one fourth of those present had actually attended and graduated from Carrollton High School before it became a junior high school in 1962 in conjunction with the opening of R.L. Turner High School.


Rudy McDonald, chairperson of the Historical Preservation Advisory Committee (HPAC), emceed the program and told the crowd, “Welcome to this historic occasion.”

He added, “Without knowledge of the past, we would be constantly relearning. We need to know where we are now, how we got here and where we can go in the future.”

Sarah Salmon, a 1946 graduate of Carrollton High School, was asked to come forward and give a history of Carrollton High School.

Pointing to the alumni in the crowd, she said, “No one could tell the history of Carrollton High School like these people right here.”

“I started to school in the old red brick building,” she said. “However, I attended the first grade in the basement of the First Christian Church because the school building was too crowded.”

She said she could remember when there were no bleachers at the football stadium and people watched the football games either by standing alongside the field or by sitting in their cars.

“We’ve come a long way,” she said.

She called on people in the crowd to stand when the year of their graduation was called out.

Marion Good Blanton, who likes to refer to herself as Mrs. Jack Blanton, was the first to stand. She graduated in 1939. Her husband was later a newspaperman, state representative and mayor of Carrollton.

Following the ceremony in the gymnasium, the crowd went out in front of the building to watch as the historical marker was unveiled.

Both sides of the marker are used to provide the history:

“The oldest high school in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. Land donated by DeWitt Clinton Perry and sister Harriet Perry Warner. Construction began December 1935. School opened September 14, 1936. Though ‘DeWitt Perry High School’ was in stone over the entrance, it was referred to as Carrollton High School and diplomas were issued in that name. DeWitt Perry name officially recognized in 1962 when Turner High School opened and this became a junior high school. (continued on other side).

“This is also the site of the First Carrollton High School building ‘Old Red’ which opened on January 19, 1916. That two-story and basement building was built of red brick from the Carrollton Brick Company. Previously, students attended an unpainted clapboard school at the corner of what is now Belt Line & Erie. ‘Old Red’ was razed in 1966 for additions to DeWitt Perry Jr. High and the Harriet Perry Warner Gymnasium. The original cornerstone for ‘Old Red’ is located adjacent to this marker.”

The Carrollton Leader - September 21, 2006

 

High school gains spot in history

A dedication ceremony for a historical marker in front of the oldest school in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District was held in September.

The ceremony for the marker was held in front of DeWitt Perry Middle School, at 1709 Belt Line Road in Carrollton.

DeWitt Clinton Perry and his sister, Harriet Perry Warner, donated land for the original school in 1915. The first school, often referred to as “Old Red,” was a two-story building, with a basement. It was built with brick from the Carrollton Brick Company and opened on January 19, 1916.

Construction on a new Carrollton High School began in December 1935 and the school opened on Sept. 14, 1936.

Though “DeWitt Perry High School” was in stone over the entrance, it was always referred to as Carrollton High School, and diplomas were issued in that name.

The school became DeWitt Perry Junior High School in 1962, when Turner High School was opened. Later, after the school was renamed as a middle school, a new sign was placed in front of the old DeWitt Perry High School sign, which reads, “DeWitt Perry Middle School.”

Prior to 1916, students had attended an unpainted clapboard school at the corner of what is now Belt Line and Erie.

“Old Red” was razed in 1966 to make way for additions to DeWitt Perry Junior High and the Harriet Perry Warner Gymnasium. The original cornerstone for “Old Red” is adjacent to the marker site.

Carrollton Star - Dec 26, 2006

 

Dedication of the Carrollton High School Historical Marker. Next to the marker is former CHS graduates and members of the Peters Colony Historical Society, Howard Cox & Marian Blanton, and Rudy McDonald from the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee (HPAC) of Carrollton, TX

Photo submitted by Betty Lou (Stanley) Dennis

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