1932: Tyler’s principal, Miss Annie Sparra,
resigned, and “Miss Lucile” Morgan was
elected principal. The date of the photo below
is unknown. Did you know that J.W. Donaldson,
Joe Pirtle, and Roy Heartfield were all once
principals of Tyler Elementary? (Sounds like
good trivia for the 50th reunion....)
1941: Belton’s schools adopted the twelve-
year grade plan. North and south wings were
added to the original Tyler School, giving the
school sixteen classrooms. Do you remember
the fabulous fire escape on the side of the
building away from Sixth Avenue? And the
beautiful live oaks in front of the building,
where shade could be found for watching the
Fourth of July parades?
Does anyone know the exact year that Tyler
Elementary was torn down?
1948: The Class of ‘60 began first grade,
some at Tyler, some at Tarver, and some at
Southwest Elementary. (Please advise if you
went to yet another elementary school.)
1951-54: The schools undertook a major
building program: The athletic field and its
facilities, a junior high school, an elementary
school, a gym, and an administrative unit were
constructed.
1955: The Class of ‘60 finished elementary
school and entered Belton Junior High. In
seventh grade, we all took Texas History.
1957: “Miss Lucile” Morgan retired, after
serving Belton Schools for 38 years. We moved
on to high school.
1960: Graduation was a really moving
moment. Parents looked on with tears in their
eyes. Dewey broke the camera as he tried to
collect his diploma. We realized we’d never see
some of our classmates again. We were set
free, and with joy and ambivalence, we flew!
resigned, and “Miss Lucile” Morgan was
elected principal. The date of the photo below
is unknown. Did you know that J.W. Donaldson,
Joe Pirtle, and Roy Heartfield were all once
principals of Tyler Elementary? (Sounds like
good trivia for the 50th reunion....)
1941: Belton’s schools adopted the twelve-
year grade plan. North and south wings were
added to the original Tyler School, giving the
school sixteen classrooms. Do you remember
the fabulous fire escape on the side of the
building away from Sixth Avenue? And the
beautiful live oaks in front of the building,
where shade could be found for watching the
Fourth of July parades?
Does anyone know the exact year that Tyler
Elementary was torn down?
1948: The Class of ‘60 began first grade,
some at Tyler, some at Tarver, and some at
Southwest Elementary. (Please advise if you
went to yet another elementary school.)
1951-54: The schools undertook a major
building program: The athletic field and its
facilities, a junior high school, an elementary
school, a gym, and an administrative unit were
constructed.
1955: The Class of ‘60 finished elementary
school and entered Belton Junior High. In
seventh grade, we all took Texas History.
1957: “Miss Lucile” Morgan retired, after
serving Belton Schools for 38 years. We moved
on to high school.
1960: Graduation was a really moving
moment. Parents looked on with tears in their
eyes. Dewey broke the camera as he tried to
collect his diploma. We realized we’d never see
some of our classmates again. We were set
free, and with joy and ambivalence, we flew!
| History of Belton Schools |
1854: The Belton trustees rented the town’s
private schools, for which parents had been
paying tuition, and the Belton Public Free
Schools system was born. Bell County was
divided into fifteen school districts.
1882: BHS was one room in the Masonic
Lodge, a rock structure built in 1870-71 and
located on the corner of North East Street and
Third Avenue. This building was also known as
the Manual Training Building. Later in the
1880s, the Masons allowed the Public Schools
to use the lower floor without charge. The
building burned in a spectacular fire in 1924.
1884: A frame building called The New
Grammar School was constructed on East Third
Avenue, next door to the Masonic Lodge.
Children living north of Nolan Creek attended
here. Known fondly as “The Little Blue School,"
it housed the first and second grades and had
a room for music classes and a play room in bad
weather.
1904: The new high school (which in our
time was Tyler Elementary) was built on the
corner of North Main and Sixth Street. It cost
$17,500. Leland Law, Betty’s father, attended
this school, and perhaps the parents of others
of our classmates did, too.
1910: “Miss Lucile” Morgan’s father, J.S.
Morgan, was elected Superintendent of Bell
County Schools, and he moved the family to
Belton.
1915: The elementary grades moved to the
building on the corner of North Main and Sixth
Street. The building was named Tyler
Elementary School after Judge George W. Tyler,
a Belton School trustee and County jurist who
was “greatly interested in having good schools
in Belton.” This same year, the Belton High
School we attended was built on North Wall
Street, and the high school relocated from
Tyler. Our “Miss Lucile” Morgan was graduated
from Belton High and was the valedictorian of
her class. (Yes, our fierce “Miss Lucile was
once a petite young girl!)
1916: Superintendent Hubbard received a
budget of $100 for conducting athletics during
the coming year.
1919: “Miss Lucile” Morgan, having taught
in Florence and Holland, was hired by Belton
Schools and began by teaching seventh grade
at Tyler Elementary. Though a far cry from
Coaches John Hugh Smith, Mack Birtchet, and
Joe Pirtle, she also coached basketball and
baseball. Some of the seventh-grade boys were
old and large for their grade, as they were from
farming families and couldn’t attend school
regularly. “Miss Lucile” was tiny, weighing less
than a hundred pounds. At basketball practice
one day, she threw the ball up “between the
centers.” A husky boy missed the ball and
collided with her nose. She bled all over the
place, and the boy thought he had completely
ruined her face!
1926: Belton Schools separated from the
City and became the Belton Independent
School District in Bell County.
private schools, for which parents had been
paying tuition, and the Belton Public Free
Schools system was born. Bell County was
divided into fifteen school districts.
1882: BHS was one room in the Masonic
Lodge, a rock structure built in 1870-71 and
located on the corner of North East Street and
Third Avenue. This building was also known as
the Manual Training Building. Later in the
1880s, the Masons allowed the Public Schools
to use the lower floor without charge. The
building burned in a spectacular fire in 1924.
1884: A frame building called The New
Grammar School was constructed on East Third
Avenue, next door to the Masonic Lodge.
Children living north of Nolan Creek attended
here. Known fondly as “The Little Blue School,"
it housed the first and second grades and had
a room for music classes and a play room in bad
weather.
1904: The new high school (which in our
time was Tyler Elementary) was built on the
corner of North Main and Sixth Street. It cost
$17,500. Leland Law, Betty’s father, attended
this school, and perhaps the parents of others
of our classmates did, too.
1910: “Miss Lucile” Morgan’s father, J.S.
Morgan, was elected Superintendent of Bell
County Schools, and he moved the family to
Belton.
1915: The elementary grades moved to the
building on the corner of North Main and Sixth
Street. The building was named Tyler
Elementary School after Judge George W. Tyler,
a Belton School trustee and County jurist who
was “greatly interested in having good schools
in Belton.” This same year, the Belton High
School we attended was built on North Wall
Street, and the high school relocated from
Tyler. Our “Miss Lucile” Morgan was graduated
from Belton High and was the valedictorian of
her class. (Yes, our fierce “Miss Lucile was
once a petite young girl!)
1916: Superintendent Hubbard received a
budget of $100 for conducting athletics during
the coming year.
1919: “Miss Lucile” Morgan, having taught
in Florence and Holland, was hired by Belton
Schools and began by teaching seventh grade
at Tyler Elementary. Though a far cry from
Coaches John Hugh Smith, Mack Birtchet, and
Joe Pirtle, she also coached basketball and
baseball. Some of the seventh-grade boys were
old and large for their grade, as they were from
farming families and couldn’t attend school
regularly. “Miss Lucile” was tiny, weighing less
than a hundred pounds. At basketball practice
one day, she threw the ball up “between the
centers.” A husky boy missed the ball and
collided with her nose. She bled all over the
place, and the boy thought he had completely
ruined her face!
1926: Belton Schools separated from the
City and became the Belton Independent
School District in Bell County.
1963: BISD began phasing in integration.
1964: Our dear old red brick high school was
razed, and students enrolled in the new high
school building, finished this same year.
1966: Black students were segregated at
Harris School for the last time. Integration went
well in Belton as a result of the gradual
phase-in. The Harris School building was
subsequently used as a district-wide
kindergarten, a mainten- ance department, and
for a time, the Belton Christian Youth Center.
BISD eventually gave the property to the City of
Belton to develop as a Community Center with a
grant they received. The dedication was in
2006. Judy Owens of BISD says, "It is a lovely
building and used now for lots of events."
1976: The Belton High School campus
consisted of seven buildings. The other
campuses were Belton Junior High School,
Tyler Elementary, Southwest Elementary, Leon
Heights Elementary, Miller Heights Elementary,
and Harris School. The school population had
increased from 553 in 1884 to 3,434 in 1976.
Early
1980's: Tyler Elementary was torn down. On
its former site is a large H.E.B. supermarket.
2007: BHS now has an enrollment of 2,200 in
grades nine through twelve, with 156 teachers
on the faculty. There are now 2 high schools, 2
middle schools, and 8 elementary schools in the
Belton Independent School District. An
elementary school in Temple named for our own
Coach Joe Pirtle opened in Temple in 1999.
1964: Our dear old red brick high school was
razed, and students enrolled in the new high
school building, finished this same year.
1966: Black students were segregated at
Harris School for the last time. Integration went
well in Belton as a result of the gradual
phase-in. The Harris School building was
subsequently used as a district-wide
kindergarten, a mainten- ance department, and
for a time, the Belton Christian Youth Center.
BISD eventually gave the property to the City of
Belton to develop as a Community Center with a
grant they received. The dedication was in
2006. Judy Owens of BISD says, "It is a lovely
building and used now for lots of events."
1976: The Belton High School campus
consisted of seven buildings. The other
campuses were Belton Junior High School,
Tyler Elementary, Southwest Elementary, Leon
Heights Elementary, Miller Heights Elementary,
and Harris School. The school population had
increased from 553 in 1884 to 3,434 in 1976.
Early
1980's: Tyler Elementary was torn down. On
its former site is a large H.E.B. supermarket.
2007: BHS now has an enrollment of 2,200 in
grades nine through twelve, with 156 teachers
on the faculty. There are now 2 high schools, 2
middle schools, and 8 elementary schools in the
Belton Independent School District. An
elementary school in Temple named for our own
Coach Joe Pirtle opened in Temple in 1999.
| 1854: Belton Public Free School System established. 1882: BHS was one room in Masonic Lodge. 1904: BHS got new building, built for $17,500. 1915: BHS moved to new red brick building on Wall Street. 1948: We began 1st grade. 1951- 1954: Jr. high, gym, athletic fields constructed. 1955: Class of '60 entered jr. high 1960: We got our wings! |
| Belton High School Built in 1915 Razed in 1964 |
| Belton Public Schools Time Line |
| Course catalog: http://www.bisd.net/home/BHS/07_08_course_catalog.pdf |
| Southwest Elementary as it is today. |
| BISD's Joe M. Pirtle Elementary opened in 1999. |
| Judy Owens of the Belton Independent School District and the librarians at Lena Armstrong Library in Belton have been very helpful in researching the history of our schools. Some of the information came from a book written by Lena Armstrong herself. |
Belton High School in 2007.