Crabapple School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Crabapple School out in Gillespie County. Now, the story starts, as so many good Texas stories do, with people who traveled a long way to build something that would last. German immigrants came to Fredericksburg in the late 1840s, and some of them kept right on going, pushing out further into the Hill Country, settling this corner of it, and putting down roots so deep you can still feel them.

By 1878, those settlers had raised up a native limestone school, solid and square the way limestone buildings are, and on opening day they filled it with about forty students. Forty kids, ready to learn, in a building their own families had built with their own hands. That's a start worth remembering.

Now, every school needs land, and this is where the story gets good. The land came from a farmer named Mathias Schmidt. How did he earn that privilege?

Well, according to local tradition, he won a foot race. A foot race. You cannot make that up, and nobody had to.

Schmidt ran, Schmidt won, and the school had a home. Over the years, the place grew into something bigger than a schoolhouse. They added a teacherage, made room for a post office, brought in a Lutheran church, made space for a community band.

Think about that combination for a moment. Learning, worship, mail, and music, all under one roof, more or less. That building became the beating heart of the whole community.

It kept that role for generations, right up until 1957, when Crabapple School merged with Fredericksburg's Independent School District. After that, the community didn't just walk away. They adapted the building for a variety of uses, because when something is built from limestone and stubbornness and the memory of a foot race, you don't just let it go.

What the marker says

German immigrants who came to Fredericksburg in the late 1840s and who later settled in this area erected a native limestone school which opened in 1878 with about 40 students. The land was donated by farmer Mathias Schmidt who according to local tradition earned the privilege by winning a foot race. Facilities added over the years include a teacherage and space for a post office, Lutheran church, and community band. Crabapple School merged with Fredericksburg's Independent School district in 1957 after which the community adapted the building for a variety of uses.