Tagged: Grapevine History

History of the Grapevine Scholastic (School) Census, 1901-1970

Genealogists are well-versed in the use of federal census records to identify and document their ancestors, but did you know that school districts also made headcounts of their students? This blog is about the history of scholastic census taking in Grapevine. HISTORY OF THE SCHOLASTIC CENSUS IN TEXAS Scholastic census records document the counting of school age children by counties and districts so the state could apportion funds for their education. The first census of Texas school-age children was mandated by an act passed by the Fifth Texas Legislature, Regular Session, on 31 January 1854. From 1854-1905, annual censuses of school children were conducted in each county by its county tax assessor’s office. The law required that a list of the free white population between the age of six and eighteen years be made each year in every county. The age was lowered to six and sixteen in 1870. In...

History of Grapevine Public Library, 1991-2001

Grapevine’s population grew to 31,836 in 1991. Library material holdings grew to 92,797 and annual circulation to 357,855. In February, Mrs. Marie Canning started part-time in Circulation. She eventually became full-time Acquisitions Assistant. In April, Grapevine Public Library’s automation system was upgraded from OCR labels and wands to bar code labels and laser guns. The re-labeling of over sixty thousand library materials and preparation of 30,000 borrower cards was accomplished in sixteen weeks with the help of eighty valued volunteers without closing the library. The Friends of the Library donated a Xerox plain-paper fax/copier, a Magazine Article Summaries (MAS) CD-ROM index to replace InfoTrac, and a plain-paper Minolta RP 605Z microfilm reader/printer from the proceeds of the annual Christmas ornament sale. Skaggs Alpha Beta cash register receipts worth two-hundred seventy-three thousand dollars collected by the public enabled the purchase of a MacIntosh computer and software. Due to community support and...

Grapevine Public Library

History of Grapevine Public Library from 1923-1950

The Grapevine Public Library has been a vital part of the City of Grapevine for almost one hundred years. Today’s blog begins a history of the Library from its inception to 1950. On January 10, 1921, Dr. Henry Kirby Taylor, head of the Sociology Department of Texas Woman’s College (later Texas Wesleyan University), and Henry McClellan Means, Tarrant County agricultural agent, created and brought forth the ability to establish cultural contact with rural Tarrant County through a traveling library, movie projector, graphophone or Victrola (later known as a record player), and Delco lighting system. The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce gave one thousand five hundred dollars for a motor truck and library fitted into equipment built for rough riding over country roads. This project became known as the Tarrant County Community Library and Entertainment Cycle, and was directly supported by the communities it served. Dr. Taylor and Means were able...