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THE HISTORICAL
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Wink in Winkler County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
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Wink Junior High and High School

 
 
Wink Junior High and High School Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Bill Kirchner, November 11, 2017
1. Wink Junior High and High School Marker
Inscription. The Wink School organized in April 1928, at which time an independent district formed and the first board of trustees was elected. The Wink Junior High and High School, built in 1929, is a two-story building with running bond brick cladding and mission revival styling, including shaped parapets, decorative tiles and clay tile roofs over arcades and covered entries. Milton C. Butler (1888-1968) of the Butler Company of Lubbock was the architect. He designed dozens of public buildings in Texas and other states from the 1920s to the 1950s, including the Bailey, Yoakum and Hockley County Courthouses. The school complex has undergone several changes over the years including the addition of the Lena Laughlin Auditorium (1968), a new cafeteria and a physical fitness center (1983) and a library wing (1999).

Roy Orbison, a rock-n-roll singer and songwriter, grew up in Wink and graduated from Wink High School in 1954. While attending high school, Orbison and some friends formed a country music group called the Wink Westerners. Orbison and his band often performed at the school and on a weekly radio station program.

The high
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school not only served as a location for learning but also as a meeting place for community activities and sporting events. Local groups have met in the cafeteria over the years, and Wildcat Alumni hold an all-class reunion every five years in conjunction with the Roy Orbison Festival. Athletics, marching band, student volunteers and other school groups remain a source of pride for the Wink Wildcats and the community. The reverence of the students, faculty and patrons of Wink High School will maintain its appealing history.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark

 
Erected 2012 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 17754.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Education. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1928.
 
Location. Marker has been permanently removed. It was located near 31° 45.298′ N, 103° 9.149′ W. Marker was in Wink, Texas, in Winkler County. It was on North Rosey Dodd Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker was at or near this postal address: 200 North Rosey Dodd Avenue, Wink TX 79789, United States of America.

We have been informed that this marker
Wink Junior High and High School Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Bill Kirchner, November 11, 2017
2. Wink Junior High and High School Marker
is no longer there and will not be replaced. This page is an archival view of what was.

Regionally, this marker was in West Texas. It was also in the American Southwest. Globally, it was in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it found itself in what was once New Spain, the Comancherνa, the Republic of Texas, and one of the Confederate States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this location, measured as the crow flies: Roy Orbison (approx. Ό mile away); Winkler County Discovery Well (approx. Ό mile away); Wink (approx. 0.3 miles away); Old Wink Cemetery (approx. 1.8 miles away); Old Duval Townsite (approx. 5.9 miles away); The Community Church (approx. 7.8 miles away); Colonel C. M. Winkler (approx. 7.9 miles away); Kermit (approx. 8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Wink.
 
Another marker is no longer nearby. Winkler County Courthouse (was approx. 7.8 miles away but has been confirmed missing).
 
Also see . . .  The alluring 90 year old Wink High School building Roy Orbison attended has been demolished.
Wink Junior High and High School image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Bill Kirchner, November 11, 2017
3. Wink Junior High and High School
The historic Wink Junior High and High have been demolished and replaced with new school buildings. Very disappointing—nothing to see here now. More this entry in the Marcel Riesco Official blog. Excerpt:
The alluring brick school mission-styled building was inaugurated in 1929, with colored ceramic and clay tiles decorating the roofs and parapets. It was certainly impressive. Roy Orbison started fifth grade there in the late summer of 1946, and by 1949 he was playing guitar with a friend by the name of James Morrow. This evolved into forming the Wink Westerners with other school buddies Billy Pat Ellis, Richard West and Charles Evans. Roy’s musical career started at the Wink school.

The school building was part of Roy’s everyday life, and he was deeply involved in all activities there until graduating in 1954 – from football to singing choirs, Roy did it all.
(Submitted on August 28, 2025, by Carly Blankfein of Austin, Texas.) 
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on August 28, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 16, 2017, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona. This page has been viewed 845 times since then and 51 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on November 16, 2017, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona.
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Jul. 9, 2026