Beaumont High School (Beaumont, Texas)


Beaumont High School was a public, co-educational secondary school in the Beaumont Independent School District in Beaumont, Texas from 1898 to 1975.

History

In 1884, two buildings were used by the district for schools: the Old Fireman Hall and the Negro Odd Fellows Hall. Beginning in 1898 a superintendent was hired, new school buildings were constructed and funds were budgeted for their maintenance.
Beaumont High School graduated a class of three on June 1, 1900, in a ceremony at the Kyle Opera House. Ida Lillian Pittman was valedictorian; Ludlow Calhoun, class salutatorian; and Harry Potter Jirou, class essayist. The title of Miss Pittman's valedictory address was "Some Women of History."
The cornerstone for the first building used primarily for high school students was laid on January 11, 1904 at College and Neches streets. During its first year of use, the building housed students in grades 5-12. A lack of funds forced the third floor to be left unfinished. The location caused some concern among parents on the north side of the city, because their children had to walk through "one of the vilest sections of the Tenderloin district, known here as the 'Reservation.'"
In 1925, a $40,000 gymnasium and auditorium were added to the College Street building.
On April 8, 1928, voters approved a $1.5 million bond issue, including $900,000 for the construction of a new high school at the built in classic Greek style at end of Pecos Boulevard in what was then city's far-west end. In April 1930, the high school's 1,000 students moved into the new, three-story facility. It was planned by Steinman and Steinman Architects of Beaumont. One of the partners, Douglas E. Steinman, was a 1913 BHS graduate. The new building included a modern innovation for the time, a loudspeaker system that linked the principal's office to all rooms on campus.
In 1975, as part of court-ordered desegregation of the district, Beaumont High School was merged with the formerly all-black Charlton-Pollard High School to form Beaumont Charlton-Pollard High School. This school was later merged with French High School and renamed Beaumont Central.
The Beaumont Independent School District voted in January 2018 to close the 1930 building, which was then housing Central High School, after it was damaged by Hurricane Harvey in September 2017.

Athletics