The History of Poly
| Polytechnic Heights was an independent suburb of Fort Worth until 1922. The Polytechnic School District was formed in 1906 in part due to the efforts of William James, a local tanner and saddlemaker. The Polytechnic School District was annexed by Fort Worth in 1924. |
A feeder school for Poly High is named for William James. |
Most of the Polytechnic Heights area was owned by the Hall and Tandy families until the late 1800s. In the 1880s the Manchester Cotton Mill opened near the Texas & Pacific
railroad tracks at Avenue E. The small town that grew around this mill became Polytechnic Heights. The mule-drawn streetcar line from Fort Worth came to Polytechnic College in 1892, adding to the forces that would make Polytechnic Heights part of Fort Worth. The electric streetcar came in 1897 on a line that ran from downtown Fort Worth out Vickery Avenue, then south on Nashville Avenue and back into town on Rosedale Street. |
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The Polytechnic Heights area has been a center for education since the founding of Polytechnic College on December 16, 1890, by the Methodist Episcopal Church. A. S. Hall, W. O. Hall, and George Tandy gave twenty-five acres as a site to build the
college, which still stands as Texas Wesleyan University (TWU). TWU is six blocks east of Polytechnic High School. Fort Worth's growth in the first decade of the 1900s was reflected in Polytechnic Heights. The Interurban Rail Line between Fort Worth and Dallas ran on Lancaster Avenue, which is along the north edge of Polytechnic Heights. The Interurban also helped the sister communities of Handley, Cowanville, and Stop Six grow. |
 Texas Wesleyan University's Administration Building. |
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D. McRae Elementary on Bishop Street. |
Polytechnic remained a suburb until the increasing pressure on resources brought about by the 1917-1920s oil boom left it and other suburbs no choice. In 1922 Fort Worth doubled its size by annexing Polytechnic Heights, Diamond Hill, Rosen Heights, Washington Heights, and Arlington Heights (including Como). |
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| Among the properties of the Polytechnic School District that were transferred to Fort Worth was D. McRae Elementary School, named for Duncan McRae, county school superintendent from 1894 to 1900. The original building was demolished in 1989. |  The high school faculty of the 1911-12 school year. |
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 The old S. S. Dillow building. |
Before a separate high school was built, Polytechnic students attended the Manchester School. By 1906 "the old Dillow
building" was built for the school, which housed students of all grades.
Polytechnic College (now Texas Wesleyan) offered high school work, and Fort Worth High School attracted many students from Polytechnic Heights. |
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Sources
(Our thanks to Dan Barker, former sponsor of Poly High School's Web site, for letting us adopt its history pages.)
Historic Preservation Council for Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County Historic Resources Survey--Principal Findings and Resource Characteristics, 1989
Polytechnic High School, The Parrot yearbook, 1924
Polytechnic High School, The Parrot yearbook, 1938