Price Memorial College was built on part of forty acres of land in 1929. The address for the school was 1800 N. Spring St., which at the time was about three miles northeast of Amarillo. The school was originally named "St. George's College, but was change to Price Memorial College in 1930, at the request of Mrs. Katherine B. Price, a widow from Connecticut who provided the funds to build the school. The reason it was called Price Memorial College, instead of just Price College, was to honor the memory of Mrs. Price's late husband, from whose fortune the donated money came. The word "memorial" was dropped from the name of the school in 1938, when the Brothers of the Christian Schools took over management.
The support of Mrs. Price was so generous and so much appreciated that Pope Pius the XI conferred upon Mrs. Price in 1935 the title of Papal Countess, making Mrs. Price one of the few women to ever achieve a papal decoration and coat of arms.
In 1964, Price College was renamed Price Catholic High School to avoid the confusion caused by the name "college." In 1966, Price Catholic High School, an all male school, merged with St. Mary's Academy, an all female school, to form Alamo Catholic High School, a co-educational school for middle and high school students. St. Mary's Academy continued, but only for grades kindergarten through 6th. In 1990, Alamo Catholic High School was moved to 4110 S. Bonham Street because it had become too hard to maintain the old Price College buildings. In 2000, Alamo Catholic High School was completely renovated and renamed Holy Cross Catholic Academy.
The beautiful, old Price College building was torn down in 2011. I still do not understand why it could not have been saved.
Here are two links to the history of Price College. The second link talks about the Brothers of the Christian Schools, who took over the management of Price College in 1938.
Link to a history of Price Memorial College
Link to the history of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
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| Ad clipped from the 14 Aug 1938 Amarillo Sunday News-Globe |
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| Dedication of Price Memorial College in 1929. Originally the college was to be called St. George's College. |
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| Undated photo of Price Memorial College |
The reason it was called Price Memorial College, instead of just Price College, was to honor the memory of Mrs. Price's late husband, from whose fortune the donated money came.
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I attended Price when the Christian Brothers were there. Also, the nuns next door, many of whom I had as teachers when they were in Panama, Canal Zone at St. Mary's, worked in the kitchen at Price. I loved it.
ReplyDeleteI attended Price College in the fall of 1956 as a Highschool Junior after moving from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Played football Junior and Senior year. Graduated in 1958. A very fine school with both day students and boarders from around the USA. I was a day student. Wonderful memories of the Christian Brothers who instructed us at Price. We closely associated with the girls of St Mary's Academy in Amarillo. David F. Albrecht Sr. PMC 1958
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