Morris School
Morris School #144
Dump
Rawhide
Parker Road
St. Paul, Texas
The Morris School was also known as Dump School, because the mail was just dumped there, and Rawhide, because the door was made of rawhide. Mark L. Morris had a store.
For a while the St. Paul #10 district had two schools, St. Paul that met at the St. Paul Catholic Church and Morris, which was located near the general store on Parker Road. It shared the building with the Methodist church.
In 1871 the State of Texas passed a law directing all county commissioners to divide their counties into school districts of not less than nine square miles each.
The St. Paul area probably had schools many years before this time because by 1871 several of the early families had lived in the area for close to fifteen years. In the 1870 U. S. Census for Collin County, John and Elizabeth Skelton had a school teacher living in their house, Martin Depust. Eli Hogge also listed his occupation as school teacher in the 1870 census.
On January 2, 1873 Mark L. Morris and Elizabeth Skelton sold 1/2 acre of land for $1.00 to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Texas to be used by the school district where the land is located. This land was used for the Morris School. The school building had one room and a dirt floor, and dimensions about 16 feet x 22 feet. It had 3 rows of benches made of split logs for about fifty students. The shingles were made from oak blocks and were 16 inches long. It was heated by a large fire place on the east end of the building. Five small glass windows were hung with rawhide hinges. The door was also made of rawhide, hairy side out, and was attached at the top. It had to be lifted to enter the building. Because of the rawhide door, the school was locally known as Rawhide School. The building was used for Methodist church services on Sundays. The church eventually merged with the Wylie Methodist church and the building was moved to Wylie.
Morris School was included on the list of Collin County schools in 1880. The article said that the soil was black waxy and that Morris was thickly settled by well-to-do farmers. No teacher was mentioned.
On the 7th of October, 1884, Mark L. Morris, Sr. and his children sold 105 square rods of land for $1 and for “the interest they felt in the rising generation and the education of the children of the St. Paul School District” to Collin County Judge Goodner for public free school purposes. The school was located northwest of the general store.
In 1890 the St. Paul and Morris district had 92 students. By 1901 the two schools were separate districts – St. Paul #10 and Morris #144. In 1909 the Morris district had 18 males and 16 females. After consolidation with the St. Paul district, Morris #144 had 58 students in 1912 and 100 students in 1925.
Some of the teachers at the Morris School were John F. McCullough in 1899-1900, Miss Donnie Haley in 1902, Prof. Arthur England and Prof. H. M. Cosby in 1903, Miss Etta Horn in 1922, Mrs. Marie Moss, Gerald Giles, and Will Killian.
On the 10th day of December, 1935, Watson McCreary and his wife sold 1/2 acre of land to the trustees of the Morris School District. The new school was a three-teacher school. In 1938 Prof. Will Killian was the principal with Prof. Gerald Giles as the intermediate school teacher and a coach and Mrs. Marie Moss as the primary school teacher. She also coached girls’ softball. The school teams played other area schools in sports. One newspaper article stated that the Clear Lake Ringers played Dump Monday night and both teams were victorious. The enrollment was between 75 and 80 students. The Board of Trustees consisted of J. O Sealy, A. R. Bare, and Raymond Smith. There was a four-room teacherage located near the school that was used by Prof. Killian’s family. The school building was used as a polling place.
On March 31, 1945 the trustees of the Morris School District #10 sold the McCreary 1/2 acre mentioned above to W. H. Collinsworth. The Morris School District merged with the Wylie School District. The teacherage was used as a residence for a while. The old school house was moved to the First Methodist Church of Wylie grounds in 1946.
In 1918 the County Superintendent of Schools said this about the Morris School:
“Dump or Morris – Some three years past the district erected them a modern two-room school house. This gave the school new life and it became necessary to have more room. During the past summer they voted a $2,600 bond issue for the purpose of paying off the remainder of the indebtedness of the district and erecting another room. This has been done and they now have a three-room house good enough for any community. The enrollment is 107 with a regular attendance. Mr. J. F. Jones, Miss Rebecca Lovell and Miss Ollie Anderson are the teachers.”
Dump
Rawhide
Parker Road
St. Paul, Texas
The Morris School was also known as Dump School, because the mail was just dumped there, and Rawhide, because the door was made of rawhide. Mark L. Morris had a store.
For a while the St. Paul #10 district had two schools, St. Paul that met at the St. Paul Catholic Church and Morris, which was located near the general store on Parker Road. It shared the building with the Methodist church.
In 1871 the State of Texas passed a law directing all county commissioners to divide their counties into school districts of not less than nine square miles each.
The St. Paul area probably had schools many years before this time because by 1871 several of the early families had lived in the area for close to fifteen years. In the 1870 U. S. Census for Collin County, John and Elizabeth Skelton had a school teacher living in their house, Martin Depust. Eli Hogge also listed his occupation as school teacher in the 1870 census.
On January 2, 1873 Mark L. Morris and Elizabeth Skelton sold 1/2 acre of land for $1.00 to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Texas to be used by the school district where the land is located. This land was used for the Morris School. The school building had one room and a dirt floor, and dimensions about 16 feet x 22 feet. It had 3 rows of benches made of split logs for about fifty students. The shingles were made from oak blocks and were 16 inches long. It was heated by a large fire place on the east end of the building. Five small glass windows were hung with rawhide hinges. The door was also made of rawhide, hairy side out, and was attached at the top. It had to be lifted to enter the building. Because of the rawhide door, the school was locally known as Rawhide School. The building was used for Methodist church services on Sundays. The church eventually merged with the Wylie Methodist church and the building was moved to Wylie.
Morris School was included on the list of Collin County schools in 1880. The article said that the soil was black waxy and that Morris was thickly settled by well-to-do farmers. No teacher was mentioned.
On the 7th of October, 1884, Mark L. Morris, Sr. and his children sold 105 square rods of land for $1 and for “the interest they felt in the rising generation and the education of the children of the St. Paul School District” to Collin County Judge Goodner for public free school purposes. The school was located northwest of the general store.
In 1890 the St. Paul and Morris district had 92 students. By 1901 the two schools were separate districts – St. Paul #10 and Morris #144. In 1909 the Morris district had 18 males and 16 females. After consolidation with the St. Paul district, Morris #144 had 58 students in 1912 and 100 students in 1925.
Some of the teachers at the Morris School were John F. McCullough in 1899-1900, Miss Donnie Haley in 1902, Prof. Arthur England and Prof. H. M. Cosby in 1903, Miss Etta Horn in 1922, Mrs. Marie Moss, Gerald Giles, and Will Killian.
On the 10th day of December, 1935, Watson McCreary and his wife sold 1/2 acre of land to the trustees of the Morris School District. The new school was a three-teacher school. In 1938 Prof. Will Killian was the principal with Prof. Gerald Giles as the intermediate school teacher and a coach and Mrs. Marie Moss as the primary school teacher. She also coached girls’ softball. The school teams played other area schools in sports. One newspaper article stated that the Clear Lake Ringers played Dump Monday night and both teams were victorious. The enrollment was between 75 and 80 students. The Board of Trustees consisted of J. O Sealy, A. R. Bare, and Raymond Smith. There was a four-room teacherage located near the school that was used by Prof. Killian’s family. The school building was used as a polling place.
On March 31, 1945 the trustees of the Morris School District #10 sold the McCreary 1/2 acre mentioned above to W. H. Collinsworth. The Morris School District merged with the Wylie School District. The teacherage was used as a residence for a while. The old school house was moved to the First Methodist Church of Wylie grounds in 1946.
In 1918 the County Superintendent of Schools said this about the Morris School:
“Dump or Morris – Some three years past the district erected them a modern two-room school house. This gave the school new life and it became necessary to have more room. During the past summer they voted a $2,600 bond issue for the purpose of paying off the remainder of the indebtedness of the district and erecting another room. This has been done and they now have a three-room house good enough for any community. The enrollment is 107 with a regular attendance. Mr. J. F. Jones, Miss Rebecca Lovell and Miss Ollie Anderson are the teachers.”
