In 1875, ten years after the Civil War, the Jasper County Training School for Negroes was established two miles east of Jasper at Cold Springs on a two-acre tract of land with Professor J.W. Moore, a very courageous caucasian, as its first principal. Later that year, Professor Moore was replaced by a black principal, Professor Jack Adams, who managed the school from 1875 to 1880. Fifteen different principals managed the school from 1880 to 1924. In 1924, Professor J.H. Rowe, a very perceptive black man, became the eighteenth principal of the school. Early in his administration, the school was relocated to Jasper on one acre of land, but in very unsanitary conditions. After community patrons expressed concern to the school board, the board purchased 10 acres of connecting land, expanding the campus to 11 acres and greatly improving conditions. Professor J.H. Rowe's administration lasted from 1924 until his death in 1943. During his administration, the number of teachers and students increased, the curriculum expanded to include home economics and agriculture, the school was accredited by the state Board of Education in 1928, and in 1933 its name changed from Jasper County Training School to Jasper Negro High School. In 1943, the school was renamed J.H. Rowe High School in honor of Professor Rowe's memory and achievements. After his death, his son, Professor Oran A. Rowe, became the nineteenth principal. During his administration, the teaching staff and student enrollment continued to increase, and the school plant expanded from a five-room building to a fifteen-room building, including an auditorium with seating for 500 students. Continued expansion added a lighted football stadium with seating for 2,000 spectators, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, eight additional classrooms, and an office suite for administrators. At the end of the 1956 school term, Professor Oran A. Rowe resigned to enter the ministry, and Mr. Sherman Coleman became the twentieth principal. During his administration, the teaching staff and student enrollment continued to increase, requiring further expansion. In 1964, a new building was constructed on Highway 190 East, and the school was divided into a high school campus with Mr. Coleman as principal and an elementary school campus with Mr. P.V. Malone as principal. With continued growth, J.H. Rowe High School strengthened its athletic program and became a force in its league with winning teams and able coaching staff. The first state football championship came in 1967 with Mr. Clifton B. Williams as head coach. The school was also very competitive in basketball, baseball, track and field, and literary events in interscholastic league competitions. Although inadequacies remained in staffing, course offerings, books, and materials, graduates of J.H. Rowe were inspired to continue their education and entered colleges, universities, and trade schools, later becoming doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, educators, business managers, clerks, secretaries, bank tellers, marketing specialists, insurance agents, and dietitians at major hospitals, while others joined the armed forces and became military leaders. Integration of the Jasper schools in 1968 brought changes and realignment within the Jasper Independent School District, and J.H. Rowe High School became Jasper Junior School for grades five through eight.