Getting to Know Your Community Through Time & Chronology

Examine the pictures below. How are they alike? How are they different?

We use certain words to describe time periods.

future

A journey from rural farmland to suburban town. Cypress, Texas A journey from rural farmland to suburban town.

The earliest known roots of the area's agricultural appeal date back to Indian tribes, who hunted and harvested rich resources of deer, bear, and buffalo.

The Indian tribes soon disappeared after the appearance of German settlers in the 1840s.

Early settlers had no choice but to farm in order to survive Early settlers had no choice but to farm in order to survive. Farming was very difficult and unpredictable. Every member of the family helped. Neighbors also helped each other. They raised animals. This provided meat, milk and eggs They planted crops that humans and animals could eat. They used any extra to barter for other goods and services. Later, they sold these crops at market. Is farming the main way people make a living today in Cypress/Houston?

Everyone worked. The children worked from the time they got up until they went to bed. As soon as they were big enough they did the same jobs as adults. What do children do in the present time during the day?

Most families grew their own vegetables, fruit and raised their own meat. They would go into Houston to get things like coffee, sugar, and flour. Potatoes could be stored for long periods of time. Most meat was cured in brine to preserve it or made into sausage and smoked in smokehouse. How do we get these items today?

Most of the clothing was made from feed sacks by the mothers or grandmothers. Later some fabric was bought in Houston at small stores or from the catalog. They also made quilts. The clothes were scrubbed clean on a rub board using lye soap they had made by hand. Where do we buy clothes today? How do we clean them?

Churches were one of the first things people began Churches were one of the first things people began. Their religion was important to them. The church served as education as well as religion. Services were held in German.

Recreation was very limited for the early settlers Recreation was very limited for the early settlers. Work always gave first. To relax, families visited one another. They might also go horse back riding in the woods, have a fish fry or play ball. At school and church there were programs, box suppers or parties. Tin Hall was the main gathering place. Babies and little children slept on pallets while the teen-agers, parents and grandparents danced, visited and ate.

The schools were small. They had one or two rooms and all ages were in those rooms. There were one or two teachers for each school. There was water from a well, outdoor restrooms, wood stoves and no electricity. Most children spoke German at home, so they learned English first, then reading and other subjects. What do our schools look like today? How are they alike/different from schools from the past? Big Cypress Schoolhouse No. 2, Dist. 6

Baseball was played at school Baseball was played at school. They used a homemade bat and a homemade ball. The baseball was made by using a green walnut and wrapping it with yarn from an old sock that was unraveled. This made a “sock ball.”

Another game was Handy-Over Another game was Handy-Over. They would throw the ball over their small school building. Half of the children were on one side of the building and the other half on the other side. When someone caught the ball, they ran to the opposite side and tried to tag someone. Other games were: Ring around the Roses, Red Rover, Drop the Handkerchief, hopscotch and marbles. What games do we play today during recess?

History of the cy-Fair school District

The area is often referred to as Cy-Fair or Cypress-Fairbanks, which comes from when the Big Cypress School and Fairbanks High School combined in the 1930s to form Cy-Fair High School and the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District.

How do you think schools in CFISD get their names? Rural High School No. 1939 How do you think schools in CFISD get their names?