Education in Manchaca

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about education in Manchaca, Travis County. Now settle in, because this one goes back a good long ways. The community of Manchaca, named for a campsite of Tejano Army Officer Jose Antonio Menchaca, got its first post office in 1851.

A quiet little place, but people were putting down roots, and where roots go down, schools tend to follow. In the 1870s, folks around Manchaca were pooling together what they had for a subscription school. One room, a frame schoolhouse, sitting out there on Onion Creek.

You paid your share, your kids got their letters. That was the deal. Then came the early 1880s, and the first public school opened its doors inside the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, near Onion Creek and right next to the adjoining Live Oak Cemetery.

They called that building Old Rock Church. Professor Alfred H. Decherd was the principal, and I imagine he had a certain presence about him, keeping order in a church that doubled as a classroom with a cemetery just outside the window.

Now here is where the story picks up speed. In 1881, the International and Great Northern Railroad laid its tracks right through Manchaca. New settlers came in, economic activity picked up, and a growing town needs a proper schoolhouse.

So in 1883, they built one, a new public schoolhouse immediately east of where that marker stands today. One story, brick, with a bell tower. A real building.

And in the 1910s, they went ahead and added a second story, bringing in cafeteria and auditorium space along with it. The school offered seven grades, and students who wanted high school had to travel to nearby towns like Buda to get it. Now, the marker does not let us look away from the harder part of this history.

Beginning early in the twentieth century, separate schools for African American and Mexican American students operated east and northeast of the main site, respectively. That was the reality of education in Manchaca for a long stretch of years. Back at the main building, time and wear caught up with that second story, and in the 1950s it was deemed unsafe and removed.

A new wing of classrooms was added in 1957. Then the pieces started coming together in a new way. In 1961, Manchaca schools joined with Oak Hill to form a rural high school district.

And in the 1960s, Manchaca schools became fully integrated. The Austin Independent School District annexed the Manchaca-Oak Hill District in 1967. And just west of that historic school site, in an area that had previously been known as Dodson's Park, a brand new school opened in 1976.

They named it Jose Antonio Menchaca Elementary School, after the very Tejano Army Officer whose campsite gave this community its name in the first place. From a one-room frame schoolhouse on Onion Creek, to a school carrying that name. That is the full arc of education in Manchaca, and it took the better part of a century to get there.

What the marker says

The community of Manchaca, named for a campsite of Tejano Army Officer Jose Antonio Menchaca. First received a post office in 1851. Early Educational Efforts included an 1870s subscription school in a one-room frame schoolhouse on Onion Creek. The first public school began in the early 1880s and was held in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Onion Creek and adjoining Live Oak Cemetery. This building was also known as "Old Rock Church," and Professor Alfred H. Decherd was the principal. The building of the International and Great Northern Railroad tracks through Manchaca in 1881 brought an influx of new settlers and increased economic activity. In 1883 a new public schoolhouse was built immediately east of this site. The one-story brick building with bell tower was expanded with a second story in the 1910s. Which added cafeteria and auditorium space. The school offered seven grades. And students went to nearby towns such as Buda for high school education. Separate schools for African American and Mexican American students operated east and northeast of this site, respectively, beginning early in the 20th century. The second story of the school was deemed unsafe in the 1950s and was removed, and a new wing of classrooms was added in 1957. Manchaca schools joined with Oak Hill in 1961 to form a rural high school district, and in the 1960s Manchaca schools became fully integrated. The Austin Independent School District annexed the Manchaca-Oak Hill District in 1967. Just west of the historic school site, in an area previously known as Dodson's Park, a new school, Jose Antonio Menchaca Elementary School, opened in 1976. (2009)