Happy Public Schools

Formal education began for students of Happy, Texas when the original settlement, two miles east, moved to this townsite in 1906 in response to the newly laid Santa Fe Rail Line. Sarah Ann Rose taught local students in a one-room frame schoolhouse during the 1906-07 school year, and early school trustees were J.F. White, W.H. Foster and S.T. Whitman. Continuing to grow, the school district built new schoohouses, including a two-story brick building constructed in 1916-17. When a second one was built in 1928-29, the earlier structure became the campus for younger students, and grades eight through eleven occupied the new school. The expanded campus benefited the district when the rural schools of Salem, Union Hill, Sunnyhill, Childress, Sunnyslope, Arney, Garrison and Wayside consolidated into the Happy district in the mid-1930s. A fire destroyed the 1928 building in 1986. One year later, the community constructed a single-story building on the same site. The Happy school system offers many opportunities for students. Athletic programs began in the 1920s with football and basketball. One Happy alumnus led the U.S. Men's Basketball Team to victory in the 1936 Olympics. The Happy Band, organized in 1933 and later called the Uncle Sam Band, has received many honors and played for dignitaries including President Franklin D. and Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. The band also performed at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.Students are rewarded for excellence in academics, leadership and participation in events through the schools' achievement award program, initiated in 1956. Once called the Jackrabbits and the Happy Jacks, the Happy Cowboys and Cowgirls benefit from efforts of local educators and families who work to prepare children and youth for their futures. (2006)

Happy Public Schools is a historical marker in Happy, Swisher County, dedicated in 2006. It is one of 16 historical markers documented in Swisher County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 17 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 34.7547, -101.3693 near Happy. The nearest cataloged historic site is Vigo Park Methodist Church (historical marker), about 10 miles away. Others within a short drive include Two Miles North of Here, Swisher County Hospital, and JA Ranch Cabin.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507014105. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.