Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas
last updated on 12 March 2015
This is the town that could be called the Texas historical home town of the Clarkson family. Wiley Clarkson's father came to Texas in the early 1880's, married, and had children. Wiley was the 2nd son of William Clarkson, son of Capt. William Clarkson, CSA, who served at Fort Sumter during the Civil War. William would eventually build a very successfull business called Iron City Iron Works. It wasn't until Jan. 1912 that Wiley married Mary Kate Johnson, great granddaughter of Hampton and Mary McKinney who were the first settlers in that part of Navarro County and the founders of Corsicana. Her family was rich in Corsicana history. When Wiley Clarkson completed his architectural schooling in 1908, he returned to Corsicana and began his career as an architect. In late Dec. 1911, he was offered a position with the Waller and Field Architectural firm in Fort Worth. Wiley and Mary Kate moved to Fort Worth after their marriage and he started his career. However, he always held Corsicana as a special place, never forgetting where he grew up.
First National Bank of Corsicana
The following is excerpted from
The Story of the First National Bank of Corsicana:
"The building history of the location on Beaton and Sixth is most interesting. Wiley Clarkson, an architect from Fort Worth, was instructed to plan a six story bank building. When the plans were presented to the Captain for approval, he picked up his pen and drew through all the floor plans except the bottom two and reportedly said, "This is all I want." The Captain ordered the plans to provide him with a second story living apartment on the east end of the building facing Beaton. He maintained the apartment for several years before moving to the home of his nephew, Jim Nick Garitty, vice-president of the bank. The structure is still used for office suites and living apartments."
Navarro Junior College
This may have been Wiley Clarkson's final large school project before he passed away on May 5, 1952. Tthe listing for this school was in the sale contract negotiated by the architect who purchased the architecture firm in 1952 from Wiley's widow. It was one of a number of jobs that were on-going with money still owed by the clients. A talk with the unofficial school historian on March 12, 2015 was very enlightening. He said that in the late 1940's, the Navarro County Jr. College board of directors had decided to expand their campus, which was simply portable buildings at that time, by having a permanent structure built on a number of acres they had recently purchased. In the Fall of 1951, the directors decided to move the school to the new location and started classes on the new campus while the building was still under construction. The students would remove their shoes to keep from tracking the black dirt and mud into the new building. In order to have enough classrooms, the directors had the older portable buildings moved to the new campus. As the new school building was completed and new buildings were added, the older buildings were removed. The new building was officially dedicated in the Spring of 1952, shortly before my grandfather passed away. Over the years, many more fine buildings matching the details of the original building have been added and the Navarro County Jr College has become Navarro College. The original building is now the college's administration building.
Elks Club of Corsicana
The photo shown here is on a post card. A check with the the Pioneer Village Historical Group in Corsicana confirmed that the building had been demolished. According to the Navarro Cnty Historical, this building became a Doctor's Clinic before it was torn down.
Navarro County Memorial Hospital
Job 812
Clarkson did not live to see the completion and dedication of this project. He passed away during the construction of the hospital. Started in 1951, it was completed and dedicated on August 8, 1952. He passed away on May 5, 1952. The Pioneer Village Historical Group confirmed that this hospital has been torn down and replaced by a larger hospital. The images shown are from our personal collection of my grandfather's papers. His widow saved them after the dedication.
