Bonham, James Butler, Elementary School

James Butler Bonham Elementary School was built in 1889 to serve the old King Williams area of San Antonio (listed on the National Register, "King William Historic District," 1968). Originally this was the wealthiest residential area of the city and many prominent business and civic leaders attended Bonham. This school is one of the best and oldest examples of San Antonio's school buildings constructed in the Victorian style typical of the traditional King William area.

The location of this school makes it accessible to the central business district and it is highly adaptable for re-use. It is a focal point and contributes substantially to the neighborhood. There is strong community support for the school district to renovate this school, maintaining its historical character, rather than to demolish it and construct a modern building.

In 1903 Bonham School had an enrollment of 532 students in eight classrooms, In 1912, two wings were added with four rooms each. The windows were put up very high, with no consideration for cross ventilation, so the children could not look out. About 1958 the ceilings were lowered and made acoustical, new cloakrooms were built and the building remodeled and painted inside and out.

In the early days when the lunch bell (operated by hand) rang, instead of going to a beautiful shiny cafeteria, the children stepped across the yard to the home of the janitor, Mr. Shook, whose wife served chili and beans, soup and ample quantities of bread, all for 15c. The first cafeteria in San Antonio was started at Bonham School managed by Miss Vera Stukes, one of the teachers. The frame building was later converted to a restroom and still later to a classroom. The present cafeteria was built in 1930, enlarged and painted in 1948, with the addition of a larger stage.

The grounds comprise about one-half of a city block and are covered with gravel, except for the patio between the front and rear buildings, most of the yard south of the main building and the parking lot, added in 1966, which extends back to Cedar Street. These sections are all topped with asphalt. A four foot chain link fence surrounds the property. Arbor Day used to be observed every year with the planting of trees and shrubs in various parts of the grounds.

At the turn of the century, Bonham School won prizes for its lovely gardens. They were given by the City Federation of Women's Clubs which the Bonham Mothers' Club helped organize. Mr. Shook, the janitor, taught the boys to do gardening. Later May fetes and harvest festivals were held under grape arbors. The May fetes always included May Pole dances. As far back as 1916, during World War I, the students gathered around the flag pole for an outdoor flag salute. The older girls would walk down Alamo to the old German-English school (later Junior College) twice a week for Domestic Science. Most of the pupils stopped school after the eighth grade except those who planned to teach. They walked over to old Main Avenue High School or rode in horse-drawn buggies. In 1916, Brackenridge High School was built nearby and most of the Bonham School students went on to high school.

For years Bonham's enrollment gradually declined as families moved out and business moved in. Bonham, it appeared, would become a victim of urban decay. Some of the rooms in the old brick building stood empty and it was known as a dying school around 1950. However, Bonham reversed the trend. Larger families began moving into the neighborhood and enrollment started creeping upward again. Part of Victoria Courts, a federal housing project, attended Bonham and by 1962 the enrollment reached a peak of 590 students. Two new portables with 4 classrooms were added.

In 1966, the new Burnet School opened three blocks away, taking all of the Victoria Courts children. The enrollment was 480 and the building consisted of eighteen classrooms (four in portables), an office, rest rooms for teachers and for boys and girls, a clinic, a cafeteria, a teachers dining room, and a library.

The school is named in honor of a Texas hero, James Butler Bonham. Although he was born at Red Bank, Edgefield District, South Carolina on February 20, 1807, his lasting friendship with William Barrett Travis eventually brought him to Texas. He was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the Texas Cavalary and was assigned by General Sam Houston to the Alamo during Texas' struggle for independence from Mexico. He died with his friend, Travis, at the Alamo on March 6, 1836.