Coke County, Texas

HISTORY OF BRONTE HIGH SCHOOL

By Hazel Holman

The Bronte Public School was organized in the year 1888. At the time of the first organized school, Coke county had not been separated from Tom Green county. The school was located near the present home of R. L. Keys, which was then North of where Bronte was located at that time. The school ran on for two years. In the years 1888-1889 and 1889-1890, there were eighteen scholastics. In 1890 the house was moved from where it was to the present location. They changed the name to Kickapoo. In 1891 the school had twenty seven scholastics. The building was rebuilt in 1893 -- the size being eighteen by twenty-eight feet. The school grew on from 1893-1897. In 1897 the school had grown until there were fifty pupils and the school building was not large enough to take care of the pupils. The Masonic Lodge came to the aid of the school and built one room above the other room and two rooms below. Professor Jowers was hired to take charge. This year there were eighty-five or ninety scholastics. In 1898 on Sunday before the schoool was to begin, both houses burned down. After the school houses were burned the people of Bronte tried to organize an incorporated school. Few of the men who had children in the school tried to incorporate an independent school but to their sorrow they were defeated. A few years later a stock company was organized. This stock company consisted of about three thousand dollars. With this money they erected a two-wtory frame building and employed four teachers. After the school building had been erected and teachers hired there was only three dollars and fifty cents in the school treasury. But the people were determined to have a good school in Bronte, school subscriptions were taken and this made enough money to run the school for seven months. In 1906 bonds were issued and the old stone building was built and was used until it was not large enough. At the time of the bond issue the old school took up the stock company's interest. They issued ten thousand dollars to take care of the building of the new school. In 1922 the new building was erected. Bonds were issued for twenty-two thousand dollars. With the help and co-operation of the people the school has grown to a good high School with about two hundred and seventy-five scholastics. Editor's note: Prof. W. O Davis, in the last days of the school term, called the attention of The Enterprise to the fact that as teacher of history in the school he had some excellent papers of the history of Bronte and the Bronte school, that had been written, at his request, by pupils of the school. We requested some of them for publication. Prof. Davis submitted three manuscripts, which include the one above by Miss Hazel Holman and one each by Misses Mildred Heidel and Betty Butner. The other two manuscripts will appear in succeeding issues. Each paper makes fine reading. From The Bronte Enterprise, Coke County, TX, date unknown.

Bronte School Picture - 1912 or 1913