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History in
a Pecan Shell
The town dates
to 1897 when a man named Hi Willis bought land here. In 1902 there
were enough children in the area (12 to be exact) to require a school
- which was named after Wichita County commissioner T. J. Cashion.
In 1913 a Baptist church was organized and a new building was dedicated
in 1918 - the year that oil was discovered. Cashion became something
of a boom town. Wells were drilled everywhere - including the church
yard.
The elevated status of the town drew other regional schools into Cashion's
academic orbit and a new school was built to accommodate the influx.
The 1930-31 school year had 286 students.
But production in the oil field declined - and workers sought work
elsewhere - taking their children out of school. The high school closed
in 1936 and students transferred to Burkburnett.
After WWII,
the school was auctioned off. The population dropped to the point
where the census enumerators passed Cashion by.
But by 2000, Cashion had 550 people residing there and the old school
was remembered on a Texas Historical Commission marker. |
Historical Marker
(Tica Rd at Hwy 240, 6 miles N of Wichita
Falls):
Cashion School
In 1902 Wichita
County built a one-room schoolhouse here on land donated by H.
F. Knippenberg. The school, named for County Commissioner T. J. Cashion,
opened with one teacher, Mrs. Lou (White) Dodson, and 12 students.
The original school building was destroyed by fire in 1915 and replaced
with a new structure in 1916. Cashion's student enrollment increased
significantly as a result of large numbers of people moving to this
area following the discovery of oil in nearby Burkburnett
in 1918. The school was expanded in 1923 and in 1924 E. F. Gaston
donated 3 adjoining acres to the school. A brick high school and gymnasium
were built in front of the existing schoolhouse in 1926. The nearby
Cooper and Bacon Switch schools merged with Cashion School in 1926-27
and in the 1930-31 school year Cashion reached its highest recorded
student enrollment of 286. During this time Cashion School buildings
also served the community as a site for social, recreational and political
activities. By the mid-1930s nearby oil production dropped dramatically
and the community as well as Cashion School declined. The high school
closed in 1936 and the elementary school in 1943. The school buildings
were auctioned in 1945 and moved off this site.
(1993) |
| Anyone wishing
to share photos of Cashion Schoolhouse or other structures in Cashion,
Texas, please submit
here. |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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