Memories of a South Ward Pirate
By Van Craddock
Mention South Ward Elementary School and a smile crosses my face.
I have fond memories of my grade school alma mater, which opened its doors more than eight decades ago to serve the children of South Longview.
It was a long time ago (65 years … yikes!) when I trudged the halls of the school at Mobberly Avenue and Pliler Street. Times certainly were different, too.
When I was there, South Ward was lily white because Longview Independent School District schools were segregated. I distinctly remember the large portrait of Robert E. Lee that hung in the main hallway just outside the school office.
South Ward opened its doors in 1936 but got a tardy slip that fall.
"H. L. Foster, city school superintendent, announced Friday that the new South Ward school … would not be ready for the opening of school Monday, Sept. 21," reported the Longview Daily News.
For the first couple weeks of the new school year, students reported to the LISD's Campus Ward school. Finally, in October 1936, teachers and pupils made the move to the new $173,535 campus.
An annex was added in 1947, then a cafetorium in 1954 (the year I entered South Ward as a first-grader). A library addition came in 1957.
In first and second grades my parents drove me to school. But when I became a third grader I was allowed to ride my Schwinn bicycle, just as long as I promised to stop and look both ways for traffic.
From our house on Sidney Street I pedaled south to Young Street, then east to Electra, which took me south to South Ward. Six-tenths of a mile, about three minutes, and I was on campus.
Sidney Street was a great place to grow up. To the north, across Melton Street, were the city ballparks (Gibson, Stewart, Burdick and Tomlinson). My neighborhood buddies Robert, Bill, Jeff, Johnny and I spent most of our time outdoors, playing on the expansive South Ward playground or chasing fly balls at the ball fields.
We had great instructors at South Ward. Among my teachers were Mrs. Moser, Mrs. Weyrich, Mrs. Hight, Mrs. Crocker and Mr. Little. I still remember Mr. Little (who actually was quite tall) telling our sixth-grade class, "TV will be the ruin of our nation yet."
I think he was on to something.
In sixth grade I was quarterback for the South Ward Pirates football team. Alas, my athletic prowess peaked at age twelve. That was OK, however, because that's the same age I discovered girls.
Actually, I'd received my first kiss from a girl in the third grade. It came during recess on the playground. The kiss was on the cheek and for the life of me, I can't remember the girl's name. It has been more than a half-century.
By sixth grade I had a crush on a girl named Jane, who lived on Electra Street just down the block from the school. Sometimes after school I'd walk her to her house, making small talk while pushing my bike. Jane was really nice, but she moved away in junior high and I don't know what happened to her.
The building I attended at South Ward was replaced in 1997 with a modern 21-classroom facility, which sits next door to the original school site. A decade later the school got a major upgrade with more classrooms, a gym addition and library expansion.
Sitting beside the school building is a welcoming 2.5-acre park, complete with play area, pavilion and quarter-mile walking trail. South Ward is still serving the South Longview community well after all these years.