In the beginning of the 1900s, local voters of Palestine County passed a bond issue for a new high school that would be located in Reagan Park. Architects Sanguinet and Staats from Fort Worth designed the building in a Tudor-Gothic style. The school opened in 1916 as Palestine High School, and its first graduating class consisted of 38 students in 1917. The high school eventually became the junior high in 1939 for the surrounding area. In 1955, it was named after John H. Reagan. From 1966 to 1976, Reagan High served as an elementary school before its closing. Saved from demolition by a group of citizens, the building was renovated and turned into a museum, opening in 1982. The Museum of East Texas Culture serves as the depository for the historical treasures of Palestine and Anderson County.
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