Wiley G. Clarkson, Architect

Corsicana:  June 1908 to Dec. 1911

Fort Worth: Jan. 1912 to May 5, 1952

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Mogan, Texas

In 1938, the Morgan ISD hired Wiley Clarkson to design a gym for their school at a cost of $28,000.00.  It was a joint project using both Morgan ISD funds and WPA funds.   The gym is typical of several smaller ISD gyms he designed during that time.  Morgan, like some of the other ISD's, expanded their school around the gym by adding newer classrooms using the concrete block walls gym as one of the walls of the classrooms.  When the gym was under construction, the supplier of the trusses miscalculated the cost in the initial order.  As a result, they ended up one truss short and the gym not quite full size under present requirements.  The floor is the original floor that was laid in 1938.  It was stripped, sanded, and refinished a few years ago, bringing up all of the beautiful detail and color of the original wood.  Because of the undersize, the court is turned sideways in the building instead of running the length of the building under the peak of the roof as in most gyms.  Gyms of this age are slowly disappearing from the Texas landscape.  A 1940 photo of the school gym that was found showed it was quite a bit different without all of the newer buildings surrounding it.  Air conditioning, which is prominent in the first photo, was not installed in the early years.  Cooling was accomplished by many windows around the gym.  The windows been removed over the years.

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