North Central Texas College

North Central Texas College, originally Gainesville Junior College, opened on September 8, 1924, as part of the Gainesville public school system. The new college was the culmination of a campaign led by Gainesville school superintendent Randolph Lee Clark, with the backing of the Gainesville Kiwanis Club and the PTA. A faculty of seven who also shared duties with the high school taught the first college freshman class of thirty-eight. The college occupied part of the Newsome Dougherty High School building. It received official approval of the state superintendent of education in November 1925. Under the guidance of H. O. McCain, Gainesville superintendent and college president (1928–45), the college enrollment increased steadily to well over 100 students during the 1930s; it peaked at 190 in 1939–40. In 1934 Mary Josephine Cox, a college English teacher, bequeathed her total estate to provide financial assistance for county youths to attend the college. In 1945 oil was discovered on the property.

Cooke County voters approved a county-wide college district and a maintenance tax on May 7, 1960. On April 18, 1961, Gainesville College became Cooke County Junior College. It was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1962. John Henry Parker, president from 1960 to 1971, supervised expansion of the college facilities from one building to eight buildings, including a college dormitory. The planetarium-classroom building bears his name. By 1973 the school had added associate-degree programs for registered nursing and law enforcement. A 110-acre part of the former Cox estate became the school farm, highlighted by a beef-cattle evaluation center. The Division of Continuing Education and Extension Services was established in 1973. In 1974 "Junior" was dropped from the college name. Alton Laird, president from 1974 to 1985, added to the curriculum an LVN nursing program, and the first associate-degree paramedical program in the state.