Education
BY JAMES T. NORMAN
The schoolhouse is a one-room classroom that would have housed students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
From left to right, Emma Halliburton, Richard Lewis, Catharin Lewis and Maranda Hart sit in an old horse-drawn bus used to transport students to school in the early 20th century.
The West Bay Common School No. 13 was built in Chambers County in 1898.
PHOTOS BY JAMES T. NORMAN COMMUNITY IMPACT
Schoolhouse o ers chance to step back into history
1894: Schoolhouse in League City is built 1898: West Bay is built in Chambers County 1900: League City schoolhouse destroyed by hurricane 1901: Second school is built in its place 1936: West Bay ceases operation as school 1980: Second school is torn down 1991: West Bay is moved to League City
Today, it sits on the same ground as League City’s rst re station and serves as a museum and reminder of the area’s history. Both are run by the League City Historical Society, which took up the task of restoring the schoolhouse. The impact The schoolhouse o ers an opportunity to take a step back into time, giving students and visitors a feel for what schooling in the late 19th century was like, Richard Lewis said. “We wanted to preserve the history of early one-room schools,” Catharin Lewis said. “And save the history of the schools that once were sitting on this property. ... That was the whole purpose of our museum.”
Even a century after its construction—and roughly 80 years after it went out of service—there are still lessons to be learned at the old school- house in League City. Looking back West Bay Common School No. 13 was built in Chambers County in 1898 and served as a single, one-room schoolhouse for children in kindergar- ten through eighth grade until 1936. In the next several decades, the schoolhouse took on a new role as a house and storage space. League City residents Catharin and Richard Lewis, working with the League City Historical Society, opted to save the building and move it to League City in 1991.
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210 N. Kansas Ave., League City www.oneroomschoolhouse.org
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