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1940s
The new school was built
in three parts. Contractor for the school and
foundation, Lionel F. Favret, began work in
1938. The 20-acre foundation cost about $40,000
and was completed by 1939. The steel reinforced
concrete floor was built upon concrete pilings.
Contractor Herman T.
Makofsky was in charge of constructing the
athletic field. The quarter-mile cinder track,
built on an oyster shell base, was laid on the
south side of the school. It was edged by a
concrete curb. Wooden bleachers were placed at
the side and a football field was laid out in
the middle. Various pits for jumping were also
added. Prior to this time, THS football was
played at the American Legion Park.
 Construction of the
school's superstructure began upon completion of
the foundation. It was completed in the summer
of 1940. Although the class of 1940 had attended
school all year at the building on Church
Street, the auditorium was completed early
enough to allow them to hold their commencement
exercises there. When school resumed in
September, classes were held in the new
building. The 1918 school building became Houma
Junior High School (and later Houma Central). In
addition to getting a new school, THS got a new
principal after Mr. Talbot retired in 1940. His
replacement was THS science teacher and coach,
Charles A. LeBlanc.
The 1940 Trawler described
the new facility as “complete in every detail,
modern and practical, comprising an athletic
unit, a vocational department, a home economics
department, a cafeteria, and every facility for
academic development."
It was built with sixteen
inch solid brick walls set on a concrete
footing. The exterior was covered with face
brick and Indiana limestone. The classroom doors
were made of walnut with brass hardware. The
lobby walls are covered with brown marble. A
mural in the lobby depicts the path of education
from the beginning of history to the present.
The library at the west end of the second floor
was built to accommodate 12,000 volumes. The
auditorium was built to seat 1010 people and
included a house and stage lighting system.
Though the auditorium walls were originally
paneled in walnut, they were later replaced with
beige ceramic tile due to moisture damage to the
wood. The tower rising above the main building
contains air ducts on the fourth floor and a
water tank on the fifth floor. The tank was used
to provide emergency water pressure and as part
of the heating system. A separate structure on
the circle side of the school contained the
boiler room. A gym, with dressing rooms on
opposite ends for boys and girls, was built at
the rear of the main building. The capacity of
the new school was listed at 1100 to 1300
students.
Click to view a
slideshow of the construction of THS in 1938-40
The year before it was
built, there were 758 students at THS. After
completion of the new building, the other 149
high school age students in the country schools
could be accommodated. The track, built on an
oyster shell base, was laid on the south side of
the school. Wooden bleachers were placed at the
side.
Organizations at the
school in that day included band, THS Thespians,
THS Drill Squad, Le Cercle Francais, 4-H club,
The Actors of Tomorrow, Biology Club, THS
Literary Club, Etti Ketters (girl’s etiquette
club) and the Boys’ Etiquette Club, Future
Farmers of America Creed, Declamation and
Debating Club, Music Club, the Commercial Club,
Library Club, Boys Athletic Club, Girls Athletic
Club, and the Better Citizens Club.
 The 1940 yearbook got a
new name. After being called the Mirror for two
years (1938, 1939), a yearbook naming contest
was held. The winner, sophomore Earnest
Bonvillain, suggested the name Trawler. After
producing hardcover yearbooks for two years
(1940, 1941), the yearbook was reduced in size
and had a paper cover in 1942 due to the paper
shortage during the war. It was further reduced
in size in 1943, when the booklet was called the
Pirogue. Though there was no yearbook produced
in 1944, 1945, and 1946, publication resumed in
1947 and has occurred uninterrupted every year
since. The Trawler staff met in the tower room
on the third floor at that time.
A common hangout for
students was the a grocery story owned by Weldon
Dupre’s family located in front of the school.
In the 1940s, several
classes donated cement benches that were placed
on the school grounds.
It was the class of 1943
that resurrected the Alma Mater. The original
song can be found in the 1913 yearbook, which
shows that the song actually had two verses and
a chorus (lyrics; listen ) . The tune, however,
had been forgotten by that time. Music teacher
Hal. M. Gilder worked with THS graduate J. Louis
Watkins (who recalled the original tune) to
reconstruct the melody. Today, only the first
verse is used.
The praises of Terrebonne
High School sing.
Your voices raise on high.
Her glorious name to the
breezes fling,
'Til echoes rend the skies.
For noble deeds, for honor
brigh,
For truth's unbroken sway.
For victories won in
virtue's fight,
We herald her fame today.
CHORUS
Here's to our
school with the sons so brave
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Rah! Terrebonne High
Here's to our
"Profs" and our teachers grave
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Rah! Terrebonne!
Here's to our
flag of the crimson and gold
O! May it always
honor hold
Then here's to
our school our joy and pride,
Shout! Terrebonne
High!
Hurrah for the
Terrebonne High School sing
Be loud her
praises told
Long may her flag
in splendor wave
The crimson and
the gold
For her we'll
sing, for her we'll stand
Her name we all
adore
The High School
girls join heart and hand
To cherish her
evermore. |
In the 1940s, several
classes donated cement benches that were placed
around the school grounds.
 The effects of World War
II were felt at THS. Students did what they
could to help. Activities included a growing a
victory garden, collecting scrap metal, knitting
afghans, making utility bags and slippers for
soldiers, and gathering supplies such as silk
stockings.
In 1945, Coach Tom Smith
started an intramural sports program. Coach
Smith had begun his tenure at the school in
1933. The stadium built in the mid-1950s is
named in his honor.
Here is the 1st
postwar issue of the Mirror.
Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 -
Page 4
1950s
In the 1950s, it was
common to have Beauty Courts. Photos of the
court were sent to a famous person who would
pick a winner. Some of the judges included Bing
Crosby and Horace Heidt.
In 1953, a War Memorial at
the base of the Terrebonne High School flagpole
was built. This monument lists the men from
Terrebonne Parish who died for their country in
World War I and in World War II. A container
with information on the people listed on the
monument and the monument’s construction was
placed inside the base of the monument.
Contributions by Terrebonne Parish students
starting during World War II helped to pay for
the monument. Names of those who died in the
Korean and Vietnam Wars were later added to the
monument.
 In 1953, the Quarterback Club and the school
board helped to start work on a stadium. It was
designed by the same architects that had
designed the school. It was completed during the
1954-55 school year. The concrete bleachers
contained about 6,000 fiberglass seats. Beneath
the bleachers on the east (visitors) side were
classrooms for vocal music and band. The rooms
beneath the west (home) side were designed for
athletics and boys P.E.
 In 1955, Louis D.
Rogers followed Mr. LeBlanc as principal of
Terrebonne High School.
Student Council was
started during his first year. Each homeroom
elected a representative and a constitution was
created. A work-study program (distributive
education) was introduced during Mr. Rogers’
tenure.
In 1958, the guidance
facilities – located in room 316 at that time -
and services were expanded. At that time, THS
had 34 classrooms, 47 teachers, 1 guidance
counselor, and 2 principals. Boats (32 at that
time) were still being used as transfers and
transported 1000 students each day.
1960s
By 1960 Spanish and
remedial programs in reading had been added to
the curriculum.
With the construction of
South Terrebonne High School in Bourg in 1961,
THS was no longer the only public high school in
the parish. The new high school took in most of
the students on the east side of the
Intercoastal Canal.
In 1962 a major renovation program added a new
air-conditioned cafeteria. It expanded the area
originally used for home economics. The home
economics classes were moved to the original
cafeteria space. The guidance department was
moved to the second floor, across the hall from
the administrative offices. The offices and
teachers’ lounge were air conditioned. Lighting
in the auditorium and at the football stadium
were modernized. Refrigerated water fountains
were installed in the main building. Covered
walkways were built in the bus loading area for
shelter during bad weather.
 The following year, two
new science labs were added. The present rooms
101 and 102 science labs were formally the shop
class. The roof on the main building was
replaced. Covered walkways to both sides of the
stadium were built. The baseball field was also
equipped with lights in 1963. The football field
recieved a new scoreboard. THe gym floor was
refinished at this time.
In 1967 the Cooperative
Office Education work-study program began.
In 1968 Warren G. Sevin
became principal of Terrebonne High. There were
83 different courses offered at THS at that
time.
In 1969-1970, Terrebonne
High School was integrated with a portion of the
student population of the Southdown High School
– an all-black school.
For that year, Terrebonne
High School and Houma Junior High School became
one school with a single principal and two
assistant principals at each building.
The schools separated the
following year as Terrebonne High School Junior
Division (grades nine and ten) and Terrebonne
High School Senior Division (grades 11 and 12).
1970s
Additional renovations
took place in 1971-72. They included
replastering, new tile floors in most
classrooms, and new venetian blinds. The
following year a new baseball field was built
behind Southdown School for THS athletics. The
seats in the auditorium were refinished that
year as well.
As the parish population
grew, so did the student population. The largest
graduating class was 1972 with 572 seniors. A
new school was built in Gray to handled students
in the northern portion of the parish. Classes
began at H. L. Bourgeois High School on December
3, 1973.
In 1973, a new baseball
field was built behind Southdown School. The
auditorium seats were also refinished that year.
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