•  Woodward School

     The Woodward School opened by Harris County Common School District No. 35 for the 1910-1911 school year. 

    The school was located at Moonshine Hill. The  Producers Oil Company donated the acre of land for the location of the school. The school was named for Emerson Francis Woodward, who was the Assistant Superintendent for the Producers Oil Company's southern division. Mr. Woodward approved the land donation for the school.  He was the founder of the Houston Gun Club and was once listed as Houston's richest resident.  His brother, William Zane Woodward, served on school boards for District No. 28 and District No. 50.
    Woodward School at Moonshine Hill, 1910

    The Woodward School at Moonshine Hill, 1910

    The school was a ward school, or intermediate school, housing grades 1-7.  It was a two-room, wooden schoolhouse.

    Woodward School at Moonshine Hill, 1912

    The Woodward School at Moonshine Hill, 1912

    In 1914, the Harris County Commissioners determined that the school was located within the boundaries for District No. 28, not District No. 35.  The ownership of the school was transferred to District No. 28 in August 1914, in time for the 1914-1915 school year.1

    This school was frequently just referred to as the Hill School (since it was located at Moonshine Hill).

    In 1917, the wooden schoolhouse was replaced with a masonry structure, which was designed by Oscar F. Holcombe (a future mayor of Houston).  

    Woodward School at Moonshine Hill, 1918 The Woodward School at Moonshine Hill, 1918

    The old wooden schoolhouse was moved across the railroad tracks and used as an additional building for the Colored School.

    The school was closed at the end of the 1931-1932 school year due to low enrollment.

    Teachers of the Woodward School

    Student Enrollment at the Woodward School

    1 Harris County Commisioners Court Minutes, Volume R, page 396