Back in Time - Featured Gyms

How can we save the old gym?

We’ve discussed this many times and the hurdles are troublesome.

First, let’s say a small Texas school district decides to dip in to their hard-earned fund for a million dollars to renovate their beloved old gym. The School Board is convinced if they could make the old gym a showcase once again, the success they enjoyed when THEY played would most certainly follow.

Sure, we could get an architect and make a million dollars’ worth of improvements to the old gym and it would look amazing!

But…

The locker rooms would still be too crowded.

Showers and restrooms would still have to be updated.

The roof leaks. It’s still too hot in the summer/cold in the winter.

Students would still prefer the modern gyms of this era. Today’s students don’t care to play in our antique gyms. They prefer the new, modern glass and chrome rock-deafening monuments to excess that dominate our schools today. 

But here’s a school district that has accomplished this monumental task.

Here’s to the Midlothian ISD that has done an amazing job of creating what truly is a work of art. 

Click here to see a video of this amazing project. The OLD GYM 

"The Old Gym is more than a building. It’s a symbol of community pride and local history. Originally constructed in the 1950s, this gymnasium served generations of Midlothian families and athletes.

Today, under the leadership of our 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we’re revitalizing this historic space into a vibrant venue for youth sports leagues, community events, educational programs, and more.

The Old Gym is guided by a dedicated Board of Directors and a hands-on facility team who share a passion for preserving the past while investing in the future. Together, this team is helping The Old Gym continue its legacy as a place where community, connection, and history come together."  

Board of Directors Chairman Duke Burgee, Midlothian Historic Gymnasium Project

The Old Gym Project has been a community project from start to finish. Midlothian ISD transferred ownership to the Midlothian Historic Gymnasium Project, and the Midlothian Community Development Corporation awarded two grants. The first was $500,000 for the repair and upgrade of the facility and recently another $170,000 to install air conditioning in the gym itself. The City of Midlothian has been with them every step of the way. The Fire and Police departments along with the Building Inspectors were totally onboard with the project from day one and the Midlothian Sports Leagues were the first and still largest clients. 

Lastly, and MOST importantly, are the hundreds and hundreds of volunteers, kids, parents, local businesses, and MISD alumni who came out in force to help. This has been the very definition of a community working together to achieve something special. 

Navasota is located in southwestern Grimes County, east of the Navasota River and 71 miles northwest of Houston.  

The origin of the name Navasota has been debated by many over the years. Some speculate it’s a native American phrase meaning “prickly pear” while others lean toward “muddy waters,” referring to the nearby Navasota and Brazos Rivers.

Navasota is one of the coolest towns in Texas. Drive around these shady neighborhoods and you can easily imagine yourself in Savannah, Georgia. 

Navasota retains a number of historic Victorian homes on Washington Avenue, the main residential and commercial thoroughfare through town.

Navasota is known for its natural beauty and colorful history. In 2005, the Texas Legislature designated Navasota as the "Blues Capital of Texas" in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native.

Navasota suffered a series of disasters in the mid-1860s that severely depleted its population. In 1865, a warehouse filled with cotton and gunpowder exploded after it was torched by returning Confederate soldiers. The blast killed a number of people and started a fire that destroyed much of the original downtown.

Navasota was considered such a "wild and woolly" place that women and children were discouraged from going downtown even in broad daylight. The downtown buildings were overrun with lawless ruffians, gamblers, prostitutes, and drunks. There were many saloons and gaming halls to entertain the cowboys, railroad men, and others. Legend has it that every Sunday morning the undertaker hitched up a buggy and went downtown to collect the bodies he expected to find after another wild Saturday night. 

At the turn of the century, Navasota was still pretty much a Wild West boomtown. Supposedly, shootouts on the main street were so frequent that in two years at least a hundred men had died! To put a stop to this, Texas Ranger Frank Hamer was sent to Navasota when he was 24 years old. The legend is that Hamer moved in and imposed law and order, prosecuting Navasota criminals until the town became safe again. He served as marshal until 1911. He is also given credit for hunting down and killing Bonnie and Clyde in 1934.

As she stands today, our beautiful gym and Rattler Stadium were built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1934. It was officially named Brule Field in honor of its architect, R.J. Brule, and was used through the end of the 2006 football season.

The fate of the old gym was very much undecided for years. Finally, the Navasota Board of Trustees, called a school bond election for May 6, 2023. This election was held to decide on funding for various school improvements and projects within the district, including a facelift for the magnificent gymnasium! 

I’ve visited the Navasota Gym at least six times over the years, and I love it every time.

Congratulations to the folks in Navasota. If you’re in the area, take some time to cruise the historic downtown and visit the Victorian neighborhoods and the old gym. For now, enjoy some before and after pictures of the Navasota Gym! 

My book, as well as this website, primarily centers around beautiful or noteworthy gymnasiums around our great state. The Orange Grove gymnasium is pretty cool, but this one is just more personal to our family. You see, my wife, Sharen Arnold, is not only the webmaster and creator of this awesome website, but she (and her twin brother, Kenny) graduated from OGHS in 1969. Not only that, her brother, Joe, graduated in 1967, and her sister, Jackie, graduated in 1964, and, her oldest brother, Bobby, in 1963. Needless to say, they all attended Orange Grove schools, grades 1 through 12. NOT ONLY THAT, their mom (and my awesome mother-in-law), Viola Harpole Arnold, taught and coached in Orange Grove ISD for some 30 years, much of it in this old gym. 

The gym has one unique feature. Needless to say, very few small school districts could afford air conditioning, and weather in south Texas is pretty hot year round! So, this gym featured louvered windows all along the south and north walls. That allowed airflow through the gym and did help make activities inside a little more bearable. The original louvered windows have now been replaced with glass paned windows.

Every kid who went to school in Orange Grove, at some point, spent time in the gym for: basketball and volleyball games, pep rallies, band concerts, school plays, talent shows, donkey basketball, various fundraisers, graduations, proms, dances (sock hops), and PE classes. Today the gym is part of the OG Elementary campus and is also used for Little Dribblers.

Orange Grove is at the intersection of State Highway 359 and Farm Road 624, eighteen miles north of Alice in northeastern Jim Wells County. 

The site was part of the Ventana Ranch owned by George and Hannah (Compton) Reynolds. In March 1889, when the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway reached the area, the Reynolds donated fifty-one acres of land to the railroad company as an inducement to build a stop on the ranch. In 1908, Fennell Dibrell and Max Starcke were hired by George Reynolds, Jr., and Ernest Miller to subdivide and sell 2,500 acres cut from the Ventana Ranch and from Miller's ranch. Dibrell and Starcke platted streets, which they named for their friends. They then sold a large portion of the land to German settlers from other German Texas towns. The developers chose the name Orange Grove for the new town, hoping to lure more settlers to the area by evoking the booming and profitable citrus industry in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

The Orange Grove post office was opened in 1909, and that year the first store was established by L. W. Mumme, who accepted produce as payment on accounts. The Orange Grove Rifle Club was organized in 1911, and by 1912, had its own hall. By 1914, Orange Grove had an estimated population of 200, a bank, a cotton gin, four general stores, and a weekly newspaper, the Orange Grove Record. A line and a station, as promised to the Reynolds, were finally constructed at Orange Grove by the railroad in 1914. In 1925, the town had a population of 300, and by 1931, some 1,000. During the 1940s, the Orange Grove Rifle Club Hall became the social center for the community, with the Annual May Feast and the Annual Harvest Feast held there. The predominant language in Orange Grove continued to be German. In 1939, the population was estimated at 750, and by the early 1940s had increased to 906. By the early 1960s, it had risen to about 1,100, then dropped to 1,000 by the mid-1970s. In 1990, Orange Grove had an estimated population of 1,175. The 2000 census gave a population of 1,288.

Check out Richland Springs, where champions abound!

Perennial football juggernaut Aledo holds the most Texas football state championships with 11! 

Quick! Three programs are tied for second with 9 total championships. Two are Carthage and Katy. So, who’s that 3rd team?

Celina? Nope!

Southlake Carroll? Naw!

How about Mart? 

The other dominant powerhouse is the Richland Springs Coyotes!

Appropriately enough, one of the coolest old gyms in Texas is the home to these Coyotes and Lady Coyotes. They compete in 6-man Division II. Last year some 15 boys played football.

After taking a few pictures at a pretty cool gym in San Saba, I headed west on US Hwy 90, and in just a quick 15 minutes, there she stood - a classic, gorgeous WPA-style beautiful stone gym.

Enjoy these cool pics. It’s really fun to visit a place that’s used to winning. They take a lot of pride in their history, and their school campus and facilities are immaculate. 

If you’re headed to San Saba to compete in their Annual Rattlesnake Roundup, (Last year’s winner was a healthy guy who was over 7 feet long and sported 13 rattles!) try to stop by the Richland Spring gym on a Sunday afternoon. You will most likely have the place to yourself and get some cool pics of your own.

Samnorwood: Where School Was a Family Affair

Some time in 1932, Collingsworth County pioneer Sam Norwood dropped his shovel in the dirt and declared that he now stood on Samnorwood, Texas. But Sam and his associates had gotten off to a late start. It wasn't until the Fort Worth and Denver Northern Railway extended its line from Childress to Pampa in 1931, that the town officially came into being. A ceremony on July 4th made it official. All essential businesses opened almost immediately, and the all-brick high school was built in the mid-1930s.

Oh, did I mention they had a very cool, beautifully maintained gymnasium?

This beautiful old relic looks pretty much untouched. It looks like there could be a basketball game tonight.

Small-town schools have things in common. For example, most small, rural districts must count every penny; budget money is always tight. More noticeably, the school is quite likely the largest employer in town. School history and family history are often intertwined. Generations all attend the same school, often taught by the same teachers. Many of us have heard, “You’re nothing like your brother” from veteran teachers. In my case, I don’t think it was intended as a compliment.

Though Samnorwood was named for early county leader Samuel Norwood, it was hardly the only town in Texas named for one of their founders. In the early 1930s, Samnorwood joined the ranks of places like Tomball, Tom Bean and Edcouch. Sam was an English rancher who was drawn to the area because of the enormous availability of land. A true original and rugged pioneer, Norwood remained a leader in the community until he died in Samnorwood at the age of 98.

Located in northern Collingsworth County in the southeast panhandle of Texas, Samnorwood still scratches out a hard living by farming and ranching. 

The Grand Opening and town-naming was quite an affair. The townspeople got together on that July 4, for not only the Independence Day picnic, but also for the grand opening of the depot. A barber shop, a café, a cotton gin, and two general stores soon prospered. The post office opened in October, and after that, the beautiful brick high school – complete with gymnasium - opened its doors for students in the fall of 1934, at a cost of $25,000. The Samnorwood School also educated the children from neighboring towns Abra, Aberdeen, Round-up, and several others.

The Oldham family, of Samnorwood, Texas, was involved in the school almost from the beginning, and certainly was there until the end. Pretty Helen Lang was one of the first students enrolled when the school doors were thrown open in 1934. She was also a cheerleader on the first squad for the Samnorwood Eagles in 1937. Later, she married Samnorwood boy Albert Oldham and they raised their family there.

What probably seemed inevitable at that time, the population in the area dwindled, as did local enterprise and student enrollment. By 1984, Samnorwood pretty much only had the school, the post office, one store and a church. By the turn of the century, the population had dwindled to 39. The secondary grades were discontinued in 2011; and the school closed its doors for good – to all students – the next year, as students were transported to Wellington.

But the Oldham family is still there. 

When a school is closed, every community is faced with the dilemma of what to do with the old building. In Samnorwood, when the school closed, local boy Gary Oldham just bought the darn thing. And why not? He is Albert and Helen’s son, so he’s lived in the same house in Samnorwood for 62 years. He married a girl from Shamrock, and she taught in Samnorwood for 20 years. Gary’s dad served on the school board for 10 years, and Gary served for 25 years, until 2003 when their last child graduated.

The Oldham’s daughter, Cheyenne, once earned the bronze medal in the State Meet in Austin in the 200 meter dash. The Eagles did have a basketball team go to state, but they did not win. However, they had several state and national championships in FFA and UIL events over the years.

At over 600 square miles, Samnorwood was one of the largest districts in the state; and was once a consolidation of 17 schools in the area. At her peak, the school boasted an enrollment of over 500 students. 

Since he bought the school, Gary now runs his family business, SOS From Texas Organic Cotton Products, from the old school library. However, he never seems too busy to let a “tourist” look around, and he might even open the gym and turn on the lights. It’s a beautiful old gym.