Gatesville, Coryell County
MURRELL SCHOOL MANY OF THIS AREA’S EARLY SETTLERS CAME FROM SARDIS, MISSISSIPPI, ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY NAMED FOR POSTMASTER JOE ATER. LEMUEL MURRELL, ANOTHER EARLY RESIDENT, BUILT A LOG SCHOOLHOUSE IN THE LATE 1870s. ALABAMA NATIVE ROBERT EARL TIMMONS WAS THE FIRST TEACHER. IN THE LATE 1800s, MURRELL SCHOOL HAD NEARLY 100 STUDENTS IN ITS ATTENDANCE AREA. A NEW MURRELL SCHOOLHOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1909-10, WITH A THIRD ROOM ADDED TO THE FRAME BUILDING IN 1920. THE SCHOOL YEAR OFTEN STARTED IN MID-OCTOBER, AFTER STUDENTS HELPED THEIR FAMILIES HARVEST LOCAL COTTON CROPS. MURRELL SCHOOL CONSOLIDATED WITH JONESBORO SCHOOL IN 1948. TODAY, THE MURRELL SCHOOLHOUSE IS ONE OF FEW STANDING RURAL SCHOOLS IN CORYELL COUNTY. (2010)