- City:
- Austin, TX
- Site Type:
- Schools, Education and Health
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Public Works Administration (PWA)
- Started:
- 1938
- Completed:
- 1939
- Designer:
- Giesecke & Harris
- Contractor:
- O. K. Johnson
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The main building of the old Austin High School was erected in 1916 and was originally the John Allan Junior High School. The existing Austin High School campus, built in 1900, became overcrowded, and in 1924, the decision was made to swap the students in Austin High with Allan Junior High. This happened after the Thanksgiving holiday in 1925.
In 1939, the school district added an annex of twenty-four classrooms to the Austin High School building using partial funding from the Public Works Administration. The two-story addition was separated from the main building by a courtyard and connected with a covered walkway.
A new Austin High School opened at a new location in 1975. Austin Community College leased the old Austin High from the school district and began holding day and night classes there in the fall of 1975. Today, the main building and annex are still in use full time as the Austin Community College Rio Grande Campus.
Source notes
Plaque on Building
https://www.loyalforever.com/events/the-rio-grande-campus-50-years-of-history
https://sites.austincc.edu/acchistory/1975/08/rio-grande-campus/
Site originally submitted by Larry Moore on May 24, 2016.
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