Building Description Lockhart Vocational High School - Carver High School, Lockhart Texas

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Lockhart Vocational High School (LVH), built in 1923, is located in the Byrd Lockhart Addition in the city of Lockhart in Caldwell County. The building is situated in a residential area. However, the private homes that once stood on the various lots immediately surrounding the school property have all been razed. The building is the last remaining of two six-teacher type Rosenwald schools built in Texas in 1923. The other six-teacher Rosenwald located in Limestone County, burned in the 1980s. The 2-story, stucco building contains six classrooms, a principal's office, and an auditorium that spans the width of the building. The building is oriented toward the north with windows receiving light from the east and west. Currently, the school site consists of the restroom structure (the original flag and basketball poles). Also on the site are playground equipment that were put there by the Head Start Program in the mid-1960s.

The building faces Market Street and is the only building remaining on this section of the street. The perimeter of the property is flanked on all sides by trees of various types. The school is a 2-story, 3762-square foot utilitarian building that is typical of the 2-story Rosenwald schools built in Texas and throughout the South. The stucco-covered brick building has a pier and beam foundation. The unadorned principal facade, which faces north, has strong vertical brick and stucco pilaster-like columns that emerge about two feet over the parapet. The pilaster-like columns, which stand on either sides of the portico, create a central area that contains various size windows. The upper level at one time had a pediment centered on the parapet between the two pilaster-like columns. The lower level has a centrally located portico with double-front doors that divide the principal facade. The stucco-covered brick columns that support the porch roof rest upon a pier of bricks, which are also covered in stucco.

Windows on the principal facade are of two arrangements. The first level windows are approximately eight feet from the foundation. They are shorter in height than those windows at the center of the primary facade. There are two windows on each side of the portico. These small windows have keystone lintels made of brick covered in stucco, and the original louvered windows have been boarded-up and painted over. Originally there were small louvered vents at the foundation level positioned beneath each corner window on the first level. Also, the same kind and size louvered vent was positioned to the left and right of corner lintels on the first floor. These vents have been stuccoed over. Above the shingled, hipped-roof portico is a group of two windows with a lintel spanning the tops of both. The original panes have since been covered up with plywood. The window patterns are repeated on the second story. However, instead of a group of two windows there is a group of three that have also been covered up with plywood.

The north/south orientation of the building permits the optimal amount of light to enter the windows on the east and west sides of the building. On the east facade, there are two different groupings of windows. The group closest to the front originally contained five windows, and the back group contained six. The second story windows are grouped in the same manner. However, at sometime during the 1970s all but the middle three windows were covered in plywood. The second-story windows on the west side of the building were done in like manner. However, the six windows marking the location of the auditorium stage was completely covered up on the inside and outside sometime in the 1970s when the Head Start Program used the building.

The rear facade has been altered slightly from its original appearance. An enclosed walkway on the left of the rear facade, added in the 1970s, covers one of the smaller windows and back door on the first floor. A group of five windows is in the center of the building, and a rear door with transom is immediately to the right of these windows. Another small window is located on the far right end of the building. It has been enclosed also. A fire escape leads to the exit door of the second floor auditorium. There are two small windows on the left of the transomed door and one on the right. These windows are not covered in plywood.

The original girl's and boy's outhouses were replaced in 1945 by a brick structure that functioned as a restroom/dressing room for the students and staff. The structure was constructed of left over brick from the new Carver Elementary School that was built just north of the LVH. The 1945 addition is connected by an enclosed walkway that was added to protect the Head Start children from the elements. Continuous with the walkway are storage rooms built using wood siding and are located on each side of the brick structure. The single windows in each storage room were enclosed for privacy when the Head Start Program rented the building.

The flagpole is located in front of the school on the left side of the concrete walkway. The 2-story pole is decorated with a spear-shaped finial. The flagpole base is a five-point, concrete star. East of the building is the playground and the basketball court with the original basketball poles. To the west of the court is the pecan bottom where the football team practiced. The property east of the court slopes down to a flat area that is outlined by Plum Creek. This is where the football boys practiced. The west side of the basketball court slopes down to a flat area that is outlined by the creek on the perimeter of the property line. This was also a practiced area for the football team. Today, these areas are covered with box elder and pecan trees.

Lockhart Vocational High is referred to by local residents as "Carver High School." As those who once attended the school in the 1920s and 1930s die out, so too has the use of the school's original name. However, the flagpole and playground equipment creates a sense of being on a school campus. The pecan and box elder trees located in the bottoms still remain from the school's beginning. And the original basketball poles are still standing. However, the private houses that once stood on the east, west, and north sides of the school have since been razed, and vegetation has overgrown the properties. Although the school building has undergone some alterations, the pediment has been removed and a walkway that connects the school and the 1945 addition has been added it still retains integrity of location, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.