North Side High School

History

In 1884, the small community of Marine, located near what today is the intersection of North Main and Central Avenue, was the beginning of what would become North Fort Worth, Texas. The North Fort Worth High School provided a basic education in the "Three R's" for the small community north of the Trinity River.

The Marine School was a one-room edifice which met the needs of the tiny, but growing community. That building was located in the 1600 block of North Commerce Street.

Built in 1872, the schoolhouse was originally located in Fort Worth's Northside on Commerce Street. Throughout the 1880s, it served as the community's only school. After a new elementary school was built in 1889, it was used as a community church. In 1904, it once again served as a school when it housed the four students enrolled in North Fort Worth High School.

When the community finally outgrew the little building in 1906, John Mulholland bought and moved it to 1309 Commerce Street, where it was converted and used as a residence throughout the early-to-mid-20th century. The school still retains some evidence of its use as a home.

In 1991, the City of Fort Worth condemned the weather-beaten structure, but a group known as the "Friends of the Marine Schoolhouse" rescued it from destruction. In April 1993, the "Friends" moved the building to 601 Park Street, where it remained for ten years until it was donated to the City of Fort Worth. On September 16, 2003, the Marine School was moved to its present location at Log Cabin Village. The relocation was a critical move in preservation of a historic structure and a Fort Worth landmark.

As the town grew and became the city of North Fort Worth, a new school was needed.

The second structure to serve as a school to the children of the town was located at North Main and 16th Street. The site was directly across 16th Street from the Catholics Men's Club and sat where a "Park and Ride" parking lot now is located. All of these early schools educated all grade levels in just one building. In 1909, the first football team of North Fort Worth High was sponsored and thus began the illustrious football history of North Fort Worth High School.

The school's colors of maroon and white were adopted in 1911. The year 1913 was an important year because of the following events that took place: the first basketball team was organized; The LASSO, the school's annual, was published; and, the North Side High School of Fort Worth Alumni Association was organized.

Facilities

The growth of the Stockyards in the 1900s prompted the building of the third structure which was the first to be called North Side High School, in 1914. It was situated on 21st Street on what is now the playground of Manuel Jara Elementary School. The name plate from the old building, which was razed when Jara was built, is displayed on 21st Street in front of the playground.

1919 saw the building of a new structure on what is now the campus of J.P. Elder Middle School. Currently called the "Elder Annex" on Park and Lincoln, it served as North Side High School until the current building on McKinley Avenue was opened in the fall of 1938. In 1922, the school's alma mater was written by Otsie Betts. By October 1923, all North Siders were branded as steers, and the first school newspaper, THE LARIAT, was published. The following year the chapter of the National Honor Society was recognized.

North Side High

1937–Present

In September 1937, North Side moved once again to a new building at its current location on McKinley Avenue, which was built on the site of the Stripling Dairy, with an enrollment of 1,164. The 15-acre (61,000 m2) North Side High School campus was a joint project between the Fort Worth ISD, the Public Works Administration (PWA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the United States government. Building this school was part of a 12-school project from this governmental team. The lead architect at the North Side project was Wiley G. Clarkson and its designer was Charles O. Chromaster. Construction was completed by the Harry B. Friedman Company at a cost of $459,000 ($7.6 million in 2000 dollars). The goal of the New Deal programs was to put as much money into circulation as possible to help stimulate the lagging economy of the Depression era. It is because of that practice that this astronomical figure (for the time period) was advanced to produce this extremely expensive building.

In addition to his work on the nationally renowned art deco project at North Side High School, Clarkson also designed, in Fort Worth, the Masonic Temple on Henderson & West Lancaster, the downtown Woolworth's, TCU's Mary Couts Burnett Library, the Trinity Episcopal Church, the Sanger Building, the Downtown YMCA, the First Methodist Church, the original Cook Children's Hospital, Harris Methodist Hospital, the Sinclair Building, the Meacham Airport Administration Building, Stripling Department Store, John Peter Smith Hospital, McLean Jr. High School (the core of the current Paschal High School), and worked with three other architects in designing the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth's first building.

Notable people

Horace S. Carswell, Jr. — Medal of Honor recipient

Billy Gault — former NFL player

Darrow Hooper — 1952 Olympic silver medalist in shot put

Rogers Hornsby (1914)— MLB hall of fame player, holds highest career batting average for NL player, second to Ty Cobb

Yale Lary — nine-time NFL Pro Bowler

Sully Montgomery — American football player and boxer

Marion Pugh — American football player

Johnny Rutherford (1956) — champion race car driver; three-time winner of the Indy 500.

Bob Schieffer (1955) — CBS News Anchor

Jim Shofner — former NFL head coach

Jonathan Top (2011) — FC Dallas soccer player

James Doyle Williams (1934) — FBI Agent who portrayed Governor John Connally in Warren Commission's reenactment of the Kennedy Assassination

Feeder patterns

The following middle schools feed into North Side

J.P. Elder Middle School

Kirkpatrick Middle School

The following elementary schools feed into North Side

M.G. Ellis Primary School

Dolores Huerta Elementary School

Manuel Jara Elementary School

M. L. Kirkpatrick Elementary School

Rufino Mendoza Elementary School

Sam Rosen Elementary School

W. J. Turner Elementary School

Washington Heights Elementary School