Early Oatmeal School

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Out here in Burnet County, there's a little limestone building that has been standing since 1869, and friend, it has seen some things. We're talking about the Early Oatmeal School, sitting in the community of Oatmeal, the second oldest community in all of Burnet County.

Second oldest. That's a distinction worth saying twice. The settlement itself was founded in 1849, which means folks were putting down roots here before a whole lot of Texas was even sorted out.

By 1853 they had themselves a post office, and they kept that post office running all the way to 1876. That's a community with staying power. Now, the building you can see today wasn't the first school.

No, the first school goes back to 1858, and that one laid the groundwork. Then in 1869, up went this limestone structure, built to serve as both a school and a church, because out on the Texas frontier you used what you had and you built things to last. And last it did.

Excepting some minor repairs and the addition of a board floor, that building looks much as it did in 1869. Think on that a moment. The same limestone walls.

The same bones. A third school came along in 1924, and that building now houses a community center, so even it found a second life. But that original 1869 structure, it's still a church today.

Oatmeal, Texas built things meant to endure, and the stone doesn't lie.

What the marker says

This building, once a combined school and church, was erected in 1869 in Oatmeal, second oldest community in Burnet County. The settlement, founded in 1849, had a post office from 1853 to 1876. This limestone structure was successor to the first school of 1858. Excepting minor repairs and addition of a board floor, building looks much as it did in 1869. It is a church today. A third school, built in 1924, now houses a community center. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1968