Wiley G. Clarkson, Architect
Corsicana: June 1908 to Dec. 1911
Fort Worth: Jan. 1912 to May 5, 1952
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Updated 05 Oct-2016
Denton, Texas
Denton High School
Shelf 2 Job 328
From the State Historic Marker on this building:
The first free city of Denton School opened in 1884. After the building burned in 1908, another school was built at the same site. When John B. Denton College closed in 1912, high school students were moved to the former college building, which sat on a 10.7 acre campus. This red brick building was constructed in 1924 on the north end of the college campus and opened in the fall with an enrollment of 478 senior high school students; junior high classes remained in the old John B. Denton building. Amos O'Neil "Prof: Calhoun, (1891-1973, principal of the school in the old John B. Denton building moved to the new structure to become principal when it opened. He held the post for the next 33 years, retiring at the end of the 1956-57 school year. Calhoun was the only principal to serve during the building's time as a senior high school. When a new high school on Fulton Street opened in 1957, this building became Denton Junior High School. The name was changed to Congress Junior High in 1969 and was again changed in 1982 to Calhoun Junior High, in honor of its former principal. The campus became a middle school in 1992. The building has continued in use with additional wings. Fort Worth architect Wiley G. Clarkson designed this imposing three-story Classical Revival style schoolhouse, with 24 classrooms, offices, laboratories, an auditorium, a gymnasium, and a library. The symmetrical main façade is divided into five bays by a projection central entry and corner piers. The exterior is brick with Lueders limestone trim. A central flight of stairs leads to the second-story entrance, and the words "Senior High School" are inscribed into the stone over the central bay.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 2009, Marker is Property of the State of Texas.
