St. Louis architect Ittner was one of the most prominent and influential school architects in the nation during the first three decades of the twentieth century. He is credited with the design of over 430 schools, most in the Midwest and several in Texas, including this former school. The building’s architectural panache is focused in the central entrance pavilion and two flanking pavilions, where a combination of Elizabethan and Dutch styles was successfully employed. The arcaded entrance porch mimics a similar Renaissance-detailed feature that Ittner utilized in his earlier design of Adamson High School in Dallas. This was one of two schools commissioned by the Corsicana school board in response to the influx of new students generated by the oil boom. The other was a high school (now Drane Middle School; 1924) at 100 S. 18th Street, also designed by Ittner in the Renaissance Revival style. Both schools reflect civic pride in the bustling oil town.