The earliest recorded school in the southern Upshur County, Texas, area was held at the home of pioneer settler, John O'Byrne, a former banker from Alabama. In 1888, a public school opened with JH Sheppard as teacher. The first half of the 20th Century saw much growth for the Union Grove School, with the creation of the Union Grove Common School District, No. 42 in 1907. In 1909, 1920, and 1933, new buildings were constructed on the current site of the UG Elementary School. The 1930s oil boom greatly increased the tax base and population of the Union Grove community, with students coming in from nearby Gladewater, Texas, and Gilmer, Texas. Over the years, the UG School has expanded to include elementary and junior-senior high campuses, an auditorium, cafeteria, library, shop buildings, and in 1996, a new football stadium located at the high school. In 1965, Union Grove became a Texas Independent School District.
Lion Pride
Union Grove is known for its marching band program, under the helm of Mark Melton. Since 1988, Mr. Melton has made the band from a 12-member ensemble into an 80-something-member marching force. "Upshur County's Finest" has blown away the competition at many marching contests including the East Texas Yamboree marching contest in Gilmer, Texas, every October and the University Interscholastic League State Marching Contest, in which Union Grove has marched in three times, the most recent being the 2009 AA State Contest, in which Union Grove placed 8th, coming in behind the Regiment of Roughnecks Band from the neighboring White Oak Independent School District of White Oak, Texas by judges preference. This marked a special feat for both White Oak and Union Grove, being the only two military style marching bands at the state contest. In May, 2011, Mr. Melton announced he was leaving "the Grove" to take over as head band director at the much larger Pine Tree Independent School District in Longview, Texas, in August 2011. The current band director is Brandon Garmon who came from Gilmer's band program during the 2013-2014 school year. Union Grove is also known for its agriculture and shop programs. With Mr. Garry T. Boyd as ag director at Union Grove since the early-1970s, the ag program has grown to be one of the best in the entire state of Texas.
Other Accomplishments
The 2011 Senior Class of Union Grove High School totaled 45 students, one of the smallest classes to graduate in years. The valedictorian, Cierra Grubbs, with a GPA of 105.09, will be attending The University of Texas at Austin as a pre-med major and will be playing on the Women's Longhorn Soccer Team. Also, four other Seniors from the 2011 class will be playing athletics at the collegiate level; including Beau Davis, Dalton Bowery, and Brianna Waddell. Other accomplishments include McCayleigh Daniels, graduating class of 2018, who is the published author of "The Forgotten Isle: Destined to be Legends" and is attending Texas A&M University as a Psychology major and Performance Studies minor.
