Sitting off to the side of Highway 70 approximately 6 miles north of Pampa in Roberts County is The Little Red School House, formally known as The Wayside School.
Travelers can’t miss this side-of-the-road curiosity and much to their surprise, the schoolhouse that is seemingly in the middle of nowhere has a long history that spans over a century.
Although not entirely open to the public, passersby can stop and read the historical marker placed in front of the structure and learn just how old and well-preserved the school actually is.
For those who have been given entrance can tell you that while the one-room school may not seem like much, it’s quite the different experience as you step foot inside and allow the hands on the clock to fly backward.
In 1915, Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Talley spent a little over $500 at Whitehouse Lumber and built the Litte Red School House, named the Wayside School from the community in which the school resides, the original receipt still in tact.
The walls are filled with pictures of previous students and teachers from over a century ago, the yellowed photos preserved behind glass.
Numerous documents and newspaper articles tell the story of the school and its community and all those who contributed to its operation, many coming from Gray County.
While it has had its fair share of minor repairs and new coats of paint, the school has remained in its near-pristine and original condition thanks to The Wayside Club, an organization comprised of women living in the Wayside Community who all share the same goal: preserving their heritage.
Debbie Davis, President of The Wayside Club, explained that the club’s existence really didn’t have much to do with the school at all in the beginning.
“The Wayside Club was started in 1919 and was a home demonstration club that met in the ladies’ homes. A county agent would come and put on a program about quilting, canning, crafting and stuff like that. It was a lot of different “home” tips,” Davis said.
“They used to have a night party once a month, but nowadays we just do a Christmas party where the kids can meet Santa and an end-of-the-year party, which is actually in May when we gather for a BBQ cookout and the whole community comes. The reason we call it the end-of-the-year is because the school house does not meet in the summer. Way back years and years ago, you started the wheat harvest and you were busier in the garden and the kids were home from school so they didn’t meet June, July or August, so May was our end of the year.”
“Sometimes we have informational programs where the county agent or firefighters will come out and talk to us since we live out in the country. If there is a death in our community, we do a meal for the family or if someone’s really sick, we’re there. The Wayside Club is like our newspaper so we know what’s going on with each other.”
And it’s not just the Wayside community that supports each other: the neighboring towns always make sure to keep the small community and schoolhouse in their hearts and minds.
“Roberts County Sheriff and deputies spend some time helping us keep an eye on the Little Red School House like if a light goes out, they let us know,” Paula Whitney said.
“They’re from Miami, but they come up in our neck of the woods and make sure that everything is going alright.”
“The Pampa community, not just our area in Roberts County, has always, always been very supportive,” Davis added.
While the Wayside Club was its own little organization, the Little Red School House played an integral role, especially after its closure in the 1930s.
“The school is owned by trustees, so it’s not owned by the County or anything like that. So that’s why we keep it up because there’s not really anyone else to maintain it,” Davis said.
And although the Wayside Club is an organization of only women, the men in the community jump right in when maintenance or landscaping needs to be done with the school, always ready and willing to help.
Last year in December, one of the last living students that attended Wayside and trustee, Jack Sloan, celebrated his 97th birthday inside of the school surrounded by family and friends.
His late wife, Betty Sloan, was a member of the Wayside Club and was heavily involved with maintaining the heritage of the school, even after her passing in 2009 when the community came together and funded the repairs of the school after a big hailstorm had damaged the roof and siding through memorials in her name.
The Texas Panhandle is known for its unexpected weather patterns and while there have been many wildfires, tornados, hail and wind storms since the school’s conception, it has withstood everything thrown at it.
But natural disasters aren’t the only thing that has threatened the school over the years: such as the case when a disgruntled individual nearly took the school down with a road packer, pushing the school 6 inches off of its foundation from the northeast corner.
Had it not been for an unexpected mechanical issue that stopped the packer from moving it any further, the school wouldn’t be there today.
For a structure to still be standing over 100 years later in its near-original condition, one can only ask how?
Debbie Davis has the perfect answer.
“God knows how much we love that building,” she simply said.
