MUSEUM MATTERS

By Ben Pate on Tuesday, December 5, 2023
  • MUSEUM MATTERS
    MUSEUM MATTERS

The gymnasium completed by the high school boys stood at the corner of Post Oak and College Streets. This photo was taken from the top story of the school across the street. The peanut plant is seen to the left and the rail yard behind it. This massive building was built by the high school boys and completed in September of 1925. The building was 90 feet long with walls 20 feet high. Wood from this school was later used to make the new rock gymnasium in 1940. That gym still stands on the city school campus. Courtesy photo

I wrote in an earlier column about the boys who lettered in 1925. They decided they wanted a gymnasium for the school. I found a picture of the building and thought I’d share it and a few details.

Apparently they went to the school board and were told that if they wanted one they would have to build it themselves. They didn’t let that stop them so they went about town and asked for donations and with the help of Ag teacher Mabry Milhollan and Coach Hallmark, they proceeded to build one. It was finished in the fall of 1925.

High school basketball was still in its infancy in 1925. The school board must have told them if they wanted a gymnasium, they would have to build it themselves. So, the lettermen of Dublin High School formed the “D” club and made it their goal to build a gymnasium for their school. The first thing they did was canvas the town and get subscriptions for donations for the building. The school donated the land. Many citizens and businessmen in town donated time and money to the project. Mabry Milhollan the agriculture teacher and Coach Hallmark both provided the leadership to get the project moving. (Dublin Progress, Feb. 20, 1925, Feb. 27, 1925) Mr. Milhollan kept the boys engaged. He met with them early in the morning to work and would keep them busy through the summer months. In the fall, he would meet with the boys early so that they could work on the building before attending class.

The building was huge. It measured 70x90 feet with walls 20 feet high. It allowed for a basketball court and room for two classrooms. It stood on the same plot of land as the agriculture building that would be built later in 1961. It had a line of windows along the top of the walls for ventilation and three doorways. Bleachers were built on the north wall of the building with seating for eight to nine hundred. The floor was concrete with hardwood laid on top. W. Z. Bolton was the foreman for the project.

By September of 1925 the building was being finished with a coat of white paint. (Dublin Progress, Sept. 4, 1925) The senior class had a dance in the new gym hosting guests from De Leon and Comanche. It was the first dance that took place in the gym. (Dublin Progress, Dec. 18, 1925) The gym served the school until a new rock gym was built by the Government’s WPA program. To reduce the cost of building the new gym, the wood used in the 1925 boys gym was removed and taken to build the rock gym that still stands today. It was completed in 1940.