40 1411 E. Eighteenth Street [NR], Andrew J. Chambers School/East Eighteenth Street Colored School No. KJI.M. Terrell High School/I.M. Terrell Junior-Senior High School/Terrell Continuing Education Center, 190910; 1936-37; 1955-56. At the core of this historic building complex is the Andrew J. Chambers School, built in 1909 to serve the students of the Fort Worth school district’s third ward. Designed by Marion L. Waller and built by the Innis-Graham Construction Co., the school opened for classes in the fall of 1910. During the late 1920s the neighborhood around the school became predominantly African-American and, in 1931, it became the East Eighteenth Street Colored School No. K. In 1936 the Fort Worth Board of Education awarded contracts for an addition to the building, planning to convert it to a high school. Architect Clyde H. Woodruff designed the building, and Harry B. Friedman served as general contractor. The new high school was named for Isaiah Milligan Terrell (1859-1931), who came to Fort Worth in 1882 to head the first public school for African Americans. He later served in various capacities, including Supervisor of Colored Teachers and principal of School A, the African-American high school. Terrell left Fort Worth in 1915 to become principal of the Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College. In 1921 School A was renamed I.M. Terrell High School in his honor, and the name was transferred to this building 1991 photograph when it opened in January, 1938. In 1955 fourteen classrooms were added to the north end of the building. Completed in 1956, the enlargement allowed the facility to become I.M. Terrell Junior-Senior High School. The school was closed in June of 1973, but the facility currently serves as the Terrell Continuing Education Center. Clad in yellow brick with cast stone trim, the three-story building and its additions are designed in an eclectic style. Three short wings cross the main structure, presenting a balanced and symmetrical facade. I.M. Terrell High School has received an Official Texas Historical Marker and is potentially eligible for the National Register for its architectural significance and for its role in Fort Worth’s African-American community.
