Happy in Swisher County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Happy Public Schools

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, November 18, 2015

1. Happy Public Schools Marker

Inscription. Formal education began for students of Happy, Texas when the original settlement, two miles east, moved to this townsite in 1906 in response to the newly laid Santa Fe Rail Line. Sarah Ann Rose taught local students in a one-room frame schoolhouse during the 1906-07 school year, and early school trustees were J.F. White, W.H. Foster and S.T. Whitman. Continuing to grow, the school district built new schoolhouses, including a two-story brick building constructed in 1916-17. When a second one was built in 1928-29, the earlier structure became the campus for younger students, and grades eight through eleven occupied the new school. The expanded campus benefited the district when the rural schools of Salem, Union Hill, Sunnyhill, Childress, Sunnyslope, Arney, Garrison and Wayside consolidated into the Happy district in the mid-1930s. A fire destroyed the 1928 building in 1986. One year later, the community constructed a single-story building on the same site.

The Happy school system offers many opportunities for students. Athletic programs began in the 1920s with football and basketball. One Happy alumnus led the U.S. Men's

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Basketball Team to victory in the 1936 Olympics. The Happy Band, organized in 1933 and later called the Uncle Sam Band, has received many honors and played for dignitaries including President Franklin D. and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. The band also performed at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Students are rewarded for excellence in academics, leadership and participation in events through the schools' achievement award program, initiated in 1956. Once called the Jackrabbits and the Happy Jacks, the Happy Cowboys and Cowgirls benefit from efforts of local educators and families who work to prepare children and youth for their futures.

Erected 2006 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 14105.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Education. In addition, it is included in the Eleanor Roosevelt series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1906.

Location. 34° 44.762′ N, 101° 51.684′ W. Marker is in Happy, Texas, in Swisher County. It is at the intersection of NW 3rd Street and North Mabie Avenue, on the right when traveling west on NW 3rd Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, November 18, 2015

2. Happy Public Schools Marker

this postal address: 500 NW 3rd Street, Happy TX 79042, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Texas Panhandle.

It is also on the American Great Plains

and specifically on the Southern Plains.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Comanchería,

the Dust Bowl,

the Republic of Texas,

and one of the Confederate States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 7 other markers are within 15 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: First United Methodist Church (approx. ¼ mile away); Harman-Toles Elevator (approx. half a mile away); Site of Old Happy (approx. half a mile away); Happy Cemetery (approx. 0.8 miles away); Dreamland Cemetery (approx. 13.9 miles away); C. Stuart Johnston (approx. 14 miles away); Quanah Parker Trail (approx. 14.9 miles away).

Happy High School image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bill Kirchner, November 18, 2015

3. Happy High School

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on December 8, 2015, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona. This page has been viewed 695 times since then and 58 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 8, 2015, by Bill Kirchner of Tucson, Arizona.