Windows
Museum for East Texas Culture

This building in Palestine, Texas was built in the early 1900s.  It was originally opened in 1916 as a high school.  In 1982 the building was saved from demolition by a group of concerned citizens and it became the Museum for East Texas Culture.

I chose to focus this first photo on the entrance and all the gorgeous windows at the front of this historical building.

Museum for East Texas Culture

The original high school was paid for by a $100,000 bond in the early 1900s.  According to museumpalestine.org, “Fort Worth architects Sanguinet and Staats designed the Tudor-Gothic style, elaborate brick building, two stories tall, positioned on a raised basement. There were originally eight lecture rooms, a library, a gymnasium, laboratories, and an auditorium.”   Through the years, the building served as the high school, a junior high and an elementary.  It was closed as a school in 1976 and eventually, it was reopened as the Museum of East Texas Culture.

Today, you can find many historical treasures from  Palestine and Anderson Counties housed in the building.  It was closed the day we were in Palestine; but I hope to go back in the near future to see the inside of this gorgeous building.

The Museum of East Texas Culture (Back View)

You can see just how massive the building is when viewing it from the back.  It is hard to believe that it was a school used in the early 1900s.  In fact, the first graduating class in 1917 had only 38 students. The first faculty consisted on one principal and ten teachers.

Monochrome Madness Challenge

“Windows (BW)” is my entry for this week’s Monochrome Madness Challenge.  I felt that the brick pattern and all the windows make this photo a perfect choice for a monochrome filter.    You can join the Monochrome Madness challenge and see more entries over at Leanne Cole Photography. You can view my other Monochrome Madness Challenge entries by clicking on Monochrome Madness.