Approximately ten years after settlers began moving to this area, Hood County was formed from part of Johnson County in 1866. Cresson was platted in the late 1880s, and surveyor Madison Jones later deeded land at this site for school purposes.
Cresson, like many of the rural communities surrounding it, started its school programs in one-room schoolhouses. Cresson's was located just west of this site and was torn down in 1890 when a two-story frame structure was erected here. This schoolhouse was used until 1918, when it was replaced by a larger, red brick building that burned years later in October 1930. Students attended classes at local churches while the school district worked to build a new schoolhouse.
The M.l. Wallace & Co. architectural firm from Dallas served as designer, and county school superintendent Victor B. Penuel chose the appearance for the new school building. The yellow-brick, mission revival schoolhouse was completed in 1931, with an auditorium and four large classrooms. Design elements include cartouches and decorative elements in window surrounds. Fund-raisers held during subsequent years added a kitchen and indoor restroom facilities. In July 1965, a severe storm damaged several buildings in Cresson, and lightning struck the school. The central parapet on the main fa?ade, designed to resemble the curved parapet of the Alamo in San Antonio, was damaged and later replaced.
After Cresson consolidated with Granbury schools in 1967, the school building sat abandoned; a community group organized in the late 1970s to work for its restoration. Today, the school serves as a community center and as a link to Cresson's early educational programs.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003
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