Carroll school

"It is unusable in its present condition, but it is not beyond repair," said Anita Robeson, president of the Southlake Historical Society. "We are doing what we can to preserve it."

Built in 1919 as the Carroll School, the schoolhouse is now the oldest public building in Southlake — and until the 1960s was the only public building. Besides a place where children from local farms were educated, it served as a gathering place for business, fall carnivals, football games and other sports matchups.

When the Tarrant County judge was summoned for Southlake's incorporation election in 1956, voting took place at the schoolhouse and council meetings were held there for several years, according to historical society records.

The building is the last original schoolhouse remaining in Tarrant County from the Common School District era (the Old Bedford School, from the same era, is mostly a replacement after a fire in the early 1990s).

The Carroll School was built after the 1917 consolidation of several rural schools — including Dove, White's Chapel and Sams — into Common School No. 99. It was named for educator Burl "B" Carroll, who became Tarrant County superintendent of instruction in 1918, according to the historical society.

The school originally was for youngsters in grades one to nine. Tenth grade was added and then the system was revised so that the school went up to grade eight and students continued at Grapevine High School.

With growth of the Carroll school district, the building served as an elementary school until the 1960s. Because of its central location, new schools were built around it.

The old schoolhouse was later used as a warehouse, art studio and transportation office. The building closed in 2001 but still is used for storage, according to the historical society.

Robeson said the society has worked diligently to preserve the building, and obtained a grant from the Meadows Fund for Historic Schools so the building could be assessed by a structural engineer.

Members of Southlake Baptist Church, which rents the Carroll Intermediate property, have repainted and made repairs, she said. But the building is in jeopardy of eventually being torn down unless someone steps up to repair and repurpose it or pay to relocate it.