The 1st Circle of Sugar Land Elementary

I saw a question on Facebook recently about the number of school buildings in the 1st circle of Sugar Land Elementary's campus on Lakeview Drive.  Some low-level photos make it seem there  were just 8 classrooms in the semi-circle.  Actually, there were 10 rooms from the inception of the school in 1918.

Here's a quote from Bob Armstrong's book, Sugar Land, Texas and The Imperial Sugar Company (1991):

In 1916, it was evident that larger and better school facilities were needed to replace the enlarged combination school and church building on Wood Street.  Kempner and Eldridge instructed their chief engineer, M. R. Wood, to go to California and inspect a school plant which was reported to be one of the finest in the nation at that time and to draw up plans for a similar school plant in Sugar Land.

Wood copied the layout. Construction was started in early 1916 and completed in 1918.  Located on the north bank of Cleveland Lake, the plant consisted of eleven individual buildings arranged in a semi-circle with a large and airy auditorium at the center. All buildings were finished in white stucco on the outside with a flat roof and large windows. The buildings were connected by paved and covered walkways and each contained a classroom and a restroom. In cold weather they were heated from a central system; the large windows provided cooling breezes in warm weather. The auditorium seated 500 people, adequate for civic meetings and gatherings.  It had a raised stage, complete with curtains and backdrops and a moving picture screen, a projector room at the back and a piano. Occasionally, the community was treated to silent movies twice a week at minimum charge.

The 1st photo below is an aerial from a video Judy Harrington Diamond (SLHS '59) gave me.  It shows very clearly all 10 classroom cottages around the school auditorium.  You see Kempner Stadium at the upper right.  There's a fence around the field and a stands on the east side.  The field has no track.  You'll also notice the 1953 additions to the school campus don't appear.  All this suggests the photo dates from 1947 to 1952.  (Also note the baseball/softball field adjacent to the west side of Kempner Stadium.)

This next photo is a postcard made from an aerial photo.  It comes from T. C. Rozelle's archive.  He annotated the photo as taken in 1924.  Note there's no football field although there's a baseball field with stands.  They don't appear in the aerial above.  I think they were moved to the west-end park off Imperial Boulevard sometime in the 1930s.  Also note the 2nd semi-circle of the Sugar Land School has not been built.  It was constructed in 1932.

 

 

I also noticed some discussion of M. R. Wood School on Facebook. Mrs. Jean Sampson Johnson wrote a short history, which I posted here.  As she indicates, the M. R. Wood campus was formed in 1927 when three colored schools were consolidated in Mayfield Park.  The school was named after M. R. Wood sometime during his leadership of the Sugar Land school district.  I'll guess it was probably in 1927 when the new campus was constructed.

Here are some relevant aerial photos I have.  This 1st one shows the school house before the consolidation in 1927.  The school house in Mayfield Park (known as The Quarters in those days) was a community center, which also served as a church and civic meeting room.

The next photo was taken sometime between 1950 and 1952.  It shows the campus before new construction in 1953.