From Salado College to Thomas Arnold High School (1890 to 1913)

From Salado College to Thomas Arnold High School (1890 to 1913). Historic Salado College Park. In 1890, the Salado College Board of Trustees leased its building to Dr. S.J. Jones who established a private high school. Dr. Jones named the school Thomas Arnold High School, after the well-known headmaster of a prestigious school in England. The private school attracted students from across Central Texas and limited its enrollment to 100 students. Dr. Jones was a highly respected leader and scholar who was responsible for the excellent reputation the school acquired. He emphasized classical and scientific education and had the best teaching equipment in the state. Dr. Jones taught Latin and Greek in addition to being the principal., High School Burns. May 10, 1901, the school burned. In spite of the fire, the planned graduation exercise proceeded. By October 26, 1901, with the school was near completion and with the faculty ready to take over, a devastating fire consumed the new structure. The community considered both fires to be of suspicious origin. Some local citizens believed the fires were the work of arsonists "who harbored a grudge against Salado.", After being rebuilt, the Thomas Arnold School continued. Dr. Jones retired in 1913. Enrollment in the school declined until it finally closed in 1918. The grounds and building became a free public school. In 1924, the building burned a third time and remains in ruins., Meet Nannie Poteet. A 1901 graduate of Thomas Arnold High School. Nannie was the eighth of nine children. She was an outstanding student who learned eloquently to express herself in the classical writing style taught in school. She wrote many stories and poems to entertain family friends. She was adventuresome, traveled extensively, played the flamenco guitar, was an accomplished painter, and a crack shot with a gun as evidenced by her shooting a snake between the eyes on the family stairs. Like many students, she used her education to benefit herself, her family, and friends. Nannie married fellow classmate, Edgar Griffith who had been class president. They raised six children on a farm near Salado., Captions , Upper Left: Dr. Jones and Teachers , Lower Left: Class of 1895 and 1901 , Upper Right: Class of 1896