William B. Lipscomb Elementary

The Story of William B. Lipscomb Elementary

Lipscomb is the neighborhood school for three Old East Dallas historic districts — Junius Heights, Swiss Avenue and Munger Place. In recent years, few families sent their children to the school. It wasn’t until Lipscomb introduced the International Baccalaureate and dual-language programs that the school started to rebuild and become a desirable place for parents to send their kids.

Lipscomb was built in 1920 at the corner of Worth and Lowell streets to relieve crowding at other district schools. It was build by Herbert Greene, who also completed the Dallas Morning News, Neiman Marcus and Titche–Goettinger buildings in the early 20th century. He built Lipscomb as a three-story structure with a stone façade trimmed with quoins. Gothic-style stone tablets adorn the two front entrances and display the school’s name. The $200,000 building had 20 classrooms, a large auditorium and a basement that served as the lunchroom.