1934 Bethel School Attendance Certificate – Urby Nowlin

Circa 1934


THE ITEM

Acquired by Tim Phillips at an estate sale for the family of Urby Nowlin (died 2007). Certificate is approx. 8.5 inches wide and 5.5 inches tall, printed in black ink on aged white paper. It is dated May 18, 1934, and is signed by teachers Mrs. F.E. McGahan and Floyd E. McGahan.

THE HISTORY

F.M. Frie and Anderson Nowlin obtained a land grant as a part of the Peters Colony and donated land to be used for the Bethel School. The Frie Schoolhouse was built in 1871, a simple log cabin with one room that served as both a school and a church. By 1884, it was referred to in legal documents as Bethel-Frie. It was renamed Bethel School when Bethel Church was built in 1882. Bethel School was consolidated with Lewisville in 1940 and the building was torn down. The land returned to the Nowlin heirs. Highland Village Shopping Center sits on the land that used to contain Bethel School, north of modern FM 407 and west of Highland Village Road.

Donated by Tim Philips.