Bertram School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Bertram School. Now settle in, because this one starts the way all good Texas stories do, with a railroad, a name, and somebody reaching into his pocket. When Bertram was founded in 1882 along the Austin and Northwestern Railroad, the people there didn't waste any time.

One of the first structures they put up wasn't a saloon, wasn't a general store, it was a building that did triple duty as a school, a Sunday School, and a Masonic Lodge hall. Three institutions under one roof. That is Texas efficiency right there.

And the man whose name the town carries, Rudolph Bertram, Austin Railroad executive, contributed fifty dollars toward getting that building built. Fifty dollars in 1882 was real money, and the community remembered it. The frame building grew as the town grew, the way things do when a place has got ambition.

But by 1908, ambition had outrun the walls. Two hundred and sixty-four students needed more than an enlarged frame building could offer. So in May of 1909, Bertram voters approved incorporation as an independent school district and approved construction of something worthy of the number.

What they got was a two-story red brick structure, built on property purchased from T. D. Vaughn, designed by architect George Endress, and raised by contractor M.

L. Langford. It opened in the fall of 1909 with J.

N. Matthews serving as the first principal. Now, the timing of that opening matters.

Bertram was in the middle of a cotton-growing boom, and students had fields to help work before they had desks to sit at. The beginning of the school year, more than once, was a suggestion rather than a hard start. But they came, and as enrollment kept climbing, sports and extracurricular activities arrived to keep them.

A separate high school went up in 1925. A gymnasium followed in 1948. Over the years, smaller county schools one by one transferred their students into Bertram, the little multi-purpose frame building having long since given way to something that could hold a whole county's worth of young people.

And in 1970, Bertram schools merged with the Burnet district. From one room doing three jobs to a full consolidated district. That first fifty-dollar contribution set off something that took nearly a century to fully come together.

What the marker says

When Bertram was founded in 1882 along the Austin & Northwestern Railroad, one of the first structures erected was a combination school, Sunday School, and Masonic Lodge hall. Rudolph Bertram, Austin Railroad executive for whom the town was named, contributed $50 for construction of the school. The frame building was enlarged as the community grew. By 1908, however, new facilities were needed for the 264 students. In May 1909, Bertram voters approved incorporation as an independent school district and construction of a new school building. This 2-story red brick structure was erected on property purchased from T. D. Vaughn. Designed by architect George Endress and built by contractor M. L. Langford, it opened in the fall of 1909 with J. N. Matthews as the first principal. Bertram was then in the midst of a cotton-growing boom, and students often missed the beginning of school to help in the fields. As the enrollment increased, sports and other extracurricular activities were introduced. a separate high school was erected in 1925 and a gymnasium in 1948. Over a period of years, several smaller county schools transferred their students to Bertram. In 1970 Bertram schools merged with the Burnet district.