Education in Hunt

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about education in Hunt, Kerr County. Now, some stories start with a bang, but this one starts the way most good things in Texas do: with neighbors figuring something out together. Around 1915, the community of Hunt pulled together two older rural schools, the ones that had been serving families along the North and South Forks of the Guadalupe River, and combined them into one: the Hunt School.

Those early settlers of Kerr County had been making do with separate schools on each fork, and now their children had a single place to learn. That was no small thing out here in the Hill Country. But the river that gave this community its character had a habit of reminding folks who was really in charge.

Floods, more than once, came calling. And with enrollment growing on top of that, the community made a decision: build a new school, and build it farther from the river. They did exactly that, in 1926.

Then in 1934, the citizens of Hunt voted to make it official, incorporating the Hunt Independent School District. Now, not every chapter of this story is a triumph. Low enrollment hit hard enough that from 1938 to 1980, the upper grades had to transfer out to Kerrville.

That's a long stretch for a small community to be sending its older kids down the road. But 1980 brought a turning point: grades seven through twelve transferred to the new Tom Moore School. And through all of it, floods and votes and enrollment swings and the long years in between, the Hunt School has kept on serving the community.

Some institutions just endure. This is one of them.

What the marker says

Established about 1915, the Hunt School combined the earlier rural schools of the North and South Forks of the Guadalupe River that served the children of the early settlers of Kerr County. Increased enrollment and floods prompted the community to build a new school farther from the river in 1926. In 1934 citizens voted for incorporation of the Hunt Independent School District. Low enrollment caused the upper grades to transfer to Kerrville from 1938 to 1980, when grades 7-12 transferred to the new Tom Moore School. The Hunt School continues to serve the community. (1996)