What is now one of the smallest streets in town at one time was the main road leading north and housed the first school of the area.  That street is Quillen Street.  That school was taught by a Miss Brink and her brother in a log house built by a Mrs. Williams.

From the first Quillen-Street location, the school moved twice before the Civil War.  A. Rev. Steed taught a school on the corner of Hall and Quillen which stood about 75 yards south of Main on South Union.
Captain White had no use for his hotel during the Civil War, because travelers were few and far between.  Therefore, it was turned into a school taught by a Mr. Taylor, who was unable to serve in the army because of a physical defect.  After the war, school was taught in a log house erected for the Masonic Hall and located near the present Masonic Lodge.
The next school built in Whitesboro would take some of the enthusiasm out of present day educators who feel that open classrooms and movable walls are innovations.  The "Old Long School House," known as "Tin Pan Alley" school house, was located in the southwest part of the city on the corner of Church and South Streets.  The one-room structure measured about 20 by 30 feet.  As the town grew, rooms were added until the building consisted of four rooms.  These rooms were formed by hinged partitions that could be raised and lowered and allowed for variety in the size and number of classrooms.  On Sundays all denominations met there for church, and all public gatherings were held there.
So far mention has only been made of public schools and the remainder of this section will be devoted to that type.  First, however, mention should be made of the fact that most early schools were private, because only a few months of school were free.  The rest of the term was taught by subscription.
In 1888 the city purchased a three-story, modern, wooden building that had housed several colleges.  School was conducted in this building for one year while a brick building was being erected on the lot on the southwest corner of Main and College Streets -- the same location where Ambrose White's inn once stood.  The new building was a two-story brick structure that contained three large rooms on the first floor and three on the second.  One of the notable features of the building was the old bell that rang every morning at 8:30 and for the opening and closing of school and recess.
This school contained nine grades and was headed by such able superintendents as Professor Ben Jones and Professor G. W. Acton.  The school bean with 150 students and expanded rather rapidly.  The tenth grade was added to the system in 1905 and the eleventh grade in 1916.
The next major step in education was the building of the school that Superintendent Acton had dreamed of.  That school would be a large brick building that would not only provide the city with a school building that would meet the space needs but would also furnish the city an auditorium with an adequate seating capacity.  Under the mayorship of R. L. Sham, the city voted bonds for such a building during the last year of Professor Acton's superintendence in Whitesboro Public Schools.
That building, the one torn down at the elementary complex this year, was a three-story structure with three classrooms, a science laboratory and an auditorium and stage comprising the top floor.  The second floor contained five classrooms and the superintendent's office, and the lower floor contained two classrooms, a gymnasium and a home economics laboratory.  The high school taught a curriculum of literary work, agriculture, home economics and music.
C.E. Davis replaced Professor Acton in the honor of being here for the opening of the building that Acton had dreamed of and pressed for.  The building was occupied in January of 1918.
In 1921, A.E. Boyd succeeded Davis as superintendent. He remained at Whitesboro until 1929, and during his term of office, he was responsible for the building of a very complete library for such a small school.  Also during Boyd's administration, Whitesboro High School was recognized as a member of the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges.
The first Whitesboro PTA was organized in 1925 with Mrs. C.D. Price as president, and J.W. Shapman succeeded A.E. Boyd
as superintendent in 1929.
Boyd, however, returned to the Whitesboro superintendency in 1932.  It was during his 11-year term of office that Whitesboro started on 35 years of building and improving that would surely equal almost any city in the state.  The beginning of this upsweep of the Whitesboro Public School complex was in 1938 when the present elementary school complex was built on Hall Street.  At that time it was the new high school and was built just east of the building that had been built in 1918.  The older building became the elementary school.
At some time during the next decade, the cafeteria and bus shed were added to the campus and the top floor of the older building was condemned and removed.  In 1941 Whitesboro joined the other schools in the state in adding the twelfth grade.  Beginning that year children began starting to school when they were six years old.
It was in 1943 when W.B. Cooke became superintendent of schools.  He was beginning his eighth year when he died suddenly on September 3, 1950. All of Whitesboro, and especially people associated with the school, was shocked by this tragedy.
Cooke's replacement was Lyman Robinson, who stayed for six years.  During Robinson's stay O.W. Davis came to Whitesboro as a teacher.  That same year, 1953, the first floor of the old elementary building was remodeled and the new high school on Fourth Street was completed.  The next year Mr. Davis organized Whitesboro's first junior high and became its first principal.  Also the second floor of the old building was remodeled.
In 1956 Charlie Estes came as the new High School principal, and W.W. Davis became the new superintendent.  During the remainder of that decade, the major improvements were the building of the swimming pool west of the new high school.
The present school plant has been rounded out by the building of the new junior-high building and cafetorium in 1967 (north and east of the new high school), completion of the new bus facility in 1972 (on Otis Street), and the beginning of the new elementary school (adjacent to the 1938 building).  The 1918 building was torn down to make room for the elementary building, which is planned for completion in August of this year.  At that time kindergarten will be added to the Whitesboro Public Schools, as we continue to move onward, outward, and sometimes downward.