History of Salt Branch District Number 13
Some forty or more years ago, at the suggestion of a wise citizen, with whom co-operated other wise
citizens, much of the tract of land lying between Abilene and Merkel was organized into a school district, the
thirteenth one of the county. A block building about eighteen feet by twenty-six feet, was erected on a site two miles
east of the boundary of the Merkel District and one mile east of the site of the present building, this location being
then the central point of the district. Nearby runs the little creek-Salt Branch; hence the name of the district and
the, school. The first school was opened thirty-five years ago with an enrollment of twelve pupils; the first teacher
was Mr. J. V. White, who had also been the first teacher of the Merkel School when it had opened with fifteen pupils.
Salt Branch District is today proud of the fact that the son of this first teacher-Dean E. V. White of the College of
Industrial Arts of Denton, who is a prominent educator of our state, as a small freckle-faced, bare-footed boy, began
his educational career here this, the first year of the Salt Branch School. In 1898 the old block building was replaced
by a new frame building; four years later this building was moved to the present site and was itself replaced, in 1917,
by a modern school building well equipped, a bond issue having been voted and a fifty cent tax levied. With the great
increase in the number of children another teacher was employed and much better grading and classification became
possible. Today Salt Branch ranks high among the two-teacher schools of Taylor County, and, with bright, ambitious boys
and girls and interested and co-operative patrons, bids fair to continue its good progress. The teachers in 1921-1922
whose faithful and efficient services have been appreciated by these girls and boys and these parents, are Misses Bess
Tucker (now Mrs. Merritt) and Genevera Middleton, who was a teacher of the school in 1920- 1921 also.
Class Roll
PRIMER
J. B. Foster
Sammie Lee Outlaw
Irvin Popham
Willie Barker
Opal Bleeker
Paul Burns
Albert Sisk
Mathew Sisk
Moses Sisk
Amo Lee Sisk
Mosley Bleeker
Clara Belle Golightly
|
FIRST GRADE
Andrew Price
Joe Loven
SECOND GRADE
Clercy Nell Carder
Willie Northcutt
| THIRD GRADE
Paxton Hays
Melvin Barker
Floyd Outlaw
Austin Petty
Leonard Popham
Jessie Price
Jaunita Owens
Gladys Petty
Floy Wells
Gertrude Loven |
FOURTH GRADE
Lois Jaynes
I. C. Allen
Otis Foster
Willie Hays
Joe Higgins
Roscoe Owens
Charlie Price
Jessie Talbot
Opal Foster
Lois Popham
|
FIFTH GRADE
Mason Barker
Charlie Harris
Ottis Janes
Lane Mullen
T. V. Nortbcutt
Wiley Outlaw
Audy Wilson
Frank Wilson
Pearl Burns
Mattie Lee Giles |
SIXTH GRADE
Martin Barker
Fred Burns
Bert Harris
Bernard Hays
Luther Higgins
Lillie D. Foster
Norma Lee Foster
Dena MeClain
Obura Outlaw |
EIGHTH GRADE
Truman Jaynes
Wesley Northcutt
J. C. Petty
Glen Talbot
Thelma Fay Hays
Irene Golightly
Jessie Goliglitly
Leana Mullen
Bertha Price
Fannie Thompson
Evan Allen
Carl Higgins |
NINTH GRADE
Noel Harvell
Myrtle Higgins |
MISCELLANEOUS WORK
Gertrude Higgins |
|