Site of Center Point School

Historical marker location:

Plains, Texas

( 3.6 miles west of Plains on US 82, then 7.1 miles south on FM 1622)

Yoakum County was organized in 1907. By the 1920s the area around this site was rural farm and ranch land without electricity, paved roads or a railroad. Building lumber was brought by freight wagon. Several local men erected a one-room frame building near this site in 1924 to serve as a school for the widely-scattered rural families. The structure also was used for Sunday school, monthly services and Methodist and Baptist revivals. Designated as Center Point School District No. 8, it served an area of 64 square miles.

Classes ranged in size from four to more than twenty students over the years. Some walked a mile or more across open prairie to reach the school. Others rode horses, which they kept tethered behind the building. Students participated in Yoakum County Interscholastic League events in addition to their usual studies. Teachers earned $80-$100 a month to teach all grades, do janitorial work and in some cases even provide daily transportation for the students. Teachers usually boarded with local families.

Enrollment increased slightly when oil camps opened in the county in 1935. In the spring of 1939, voters opted to merge Center Point School District No. 8 with others to form Plains Rural School District. The one-room school was closed and moved to Plains for use as a music building, later becoming part of the American Legion hall.

Center Point School served the educational, spiritual and social needs of the surrounding community for fifteen years. Although short-lived, its legacy remains a vital part of the history of this part of Yoakum County. (2000)