Center Point School

These photos are from the July 13, 2013, dedication of an historical marker for the Center Point School at 216 China Street, Center Point.  This was the seventh historical marker in Center Point.
The school building, of native limestone, was designed by San Antonio architect Alfred Giles and built by J. V. Oppert. It opened for classes in the autumn of 1911 and has served the students of Center Point ever since.
Because of the small enrollment, for many years teachers taught combined classes.  First and second grade shared one classroom on the first floor, third and fourth the other. Fifth and sixth shared a classroom over the first and second grace, and seventh and eight were above the third and fourth grade classroom.  The high school students were in the central section upstairs.
Sibyl S., a 1931 graduate, remembered there was once a barn behind the school where students who rode horses or carriages to school would tie up their animals during the day.  The students would go out at lunch to feed them oats and check on the animals.
Later the barn was use to store athletic equipment before being torn down.

Architect Alfred Giles was well-known throughout Texas. He is responsible for about 90 buildings across the state.  Some of the other Kerr County buildings he designed were the Weston Building, the 1882 Schreiner Store, the Schreiner Mansion, and possibly the Favorite Saloon.

In time he purchased a large ranch in the area and named it Hillingdon after the town where he was born near London, England.

I was interested to learn that Center Point has a historical museum! Located in a small house across from the historic school building, its primary focus is historic school materials--athletic awards, yearbooks, etc.  However, there are three dioramas featuring Center Point.  Once shows the fairground, one the rail depot, and one the historic downtown along San Antonio Street.

It is amazing that a small unincorporated community can pull together a museum when the larger Kerr County community hasn't.

A history museum in Kerrville?

This neoclassical house at 425 Water Street in Kerrville is known as the Calcott-Vann-Schreiner house and now serves as the Kerr Regional History Center. The History Center is a branch of the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library and is home to the Kerrville Genealogical Society.

UPDATE:  As of September 8, 2014, the Kerrville Genealogical Society is no longer associated with the History Center.

Architect Atlee Ayres designed the house for Whitfield Scott Schreiner, grandson of Capt. Charles Schreiner. Construction began in 1914.  The house was designed with ten rooms, each having four windows, making the rooms light and bright.  

In 1927 the Schreiners sold the house and moved to an estate west of town. City manager Sealy Cone then lived here several years before selling the house to W. W. Vann who in turn sold it to his son-in-law George Calcott.  The Calcotts were the last family to reside in the house. They sold the property about 1969 to the H E Butt Foundation which leased it out to non-profits.  Today the house is owned by the city of Kerrville and is dedicated to history, genealogy, and archives.

There has been much discussion of late within the local history community about establishing a museum.  Some have suggested buying the Comparette House and the old Tivy Hotel and establishing a museum there at the corner of Jefferson and Tivy Streets.  On the surface it sounds like a grand idea!  The Tivy Hotel could continue to be rented out for income for a while and the focus could be on the Comparette House.  However, the Comparette House has sat empty for several years and has been heavily vandalized, meaning it will be even more expensive to restore than it should be.  Many of us are worried about it. Some have talked about finding an angel to rescue the house before it's too late.  Wonderful if that could happen!  But, it would be very expensive to purchase the properties, make all the necessary repairs, and then maintain them.  Plus, volunteers and staff would have to be recruited.  A facility that large would demand full-time employees.

I think there is another, more realistic, alternative.

Kerr County needs a history museum, but we don't need to start with a grand Smithsonian-type facility. We would be setting ourselves up for frustration and failure.   Experts will tell you it is better to start small and then grow.   

The first floor of the History Center building is used for genealogical and historical research. The upstairs is used for storage, but is mostly empty.  I think the second floor of the Kerr County History Center would be an ideal space to start a history museum.  The large room upstairs could be an exhibit area and an adjacent sunroom a touch gallery for children.  Two of the additional rooms could be use for shared storage space by the genealogy society  and museum, leaving one additional room for expansion. There would minimal expenses because the house is already owned by the City of Kerrville, and there is already a dedicated set of volunteers keeping the house open five days a week.  The one obvious problem is accessibility. There is not yet a working elevator, however there is an elevator shaft with wiring, just waiting.

Consider that the Calcott-Vann-Schreiner house will be 100 years old in 2014.  Would it be possible to open a small local history museum here by 2014 to mark the building's centennial?