DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Masonic Home and School of Texas, right here in Tarrant County. Now, some institutions ease their way into history quiet and slow. Others arrive on a special excursion train.
This one did both — and that railroad detail might just tell you everything you need to know about the kind of people behind it. Let's go back to the very beginning. The Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Texas organized in 1837, back when Texas was still its own republic.
When statehood came, the Grand Lodge was granted a new charter by the State of Texas on April 28, 1846. Right there in their stated purposes — written down plain as day — was support of education and charitable causes. Not an afterthought.
A cornerstone of who they were. Decades passed. Then at the 1885 annual meeting, the Grand Lodge appointed a committee to plan something they called a Masonic Widows and Orphans Home.
They called for bids from Texas lodges the following year, and in 1888, Fort Worth Lodge No. 148 stepped forward with an offer that was hard to refuse — two hundred acres of land and five thousand dollars toward building costs. The Grand Lodge accepted. Now, land and money in hand, you might expect things to move fast.
They did not. Construction of the buildings at this site didn't begin until 1898. But when the moment finally came to mark the occasion properly, the Masons did not do it quietly.
On June 7, 1899, a special Texas and Pacific Railroad excursion train brought Masons and visitors out to a cornerstone leveling ceremony. Picture that — a whole train, rolling toward a moment that had been thirteen years in the making. The first building was completed later that same year, and Dr.
Frank Rainey of Austin was named superintendent. The campus that took shape here was no modest affair. Buildings were designed by noted architects Wiley G.
Clarkson of Fort Worth and Herbert M. Greene of Dallas. The place came to be known as the Masonic Home and School of Texas.
In 1911, under the terms of an agreement, Masonic widows were transferred to a new home for aged Masons in Arlington, focusing this campus on the children. Two years after that, in 1913, the State Board of Education formed the Masonic Home Independent School District. And by 1930, more than four hundred and fifty students were being cared for and educated right here.
Over the years the mission grew. What began as a home for the children of Texas Masons expanded to offer educational opportunities to additional relatives of Masons, and to other children sponsored by Texas lodges across the state. In 1992, the campus was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district.
A committee appointed in 1885. A train full of Masons in 1899. And a legacy of education that's still running.
Some things, when you build them right, just keep going.
What the marker says
The Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Texas, organized in 1837 in the Republic of Texas, was granted a charter by the new State of Texas on April 28, 1846. Among the stated purposes of the organization was support of education and charitable causes. At its 1885 annual meeting, the Grand Lodge appointed a committee to plan a "Masonic Widows and Orphans Home." Calling for bids from Texas lodges the following year, the Grand Lodge accepted the offer of Fort Worth Lodge No. 148 in 1888 for 200 acres of land and $5,000 toward building costs. Construction of the institution's buildings at this site began in 1898. A special Texas & Pacific Railroad excursion train brought Masons and visitors to a cornerstone leveling ceremony on June 7, 1899, and the first building was completed later that year. Dr. Frank Rainey of Austin was named superintendent. Known as the "Masonic Home and School of Texas," the facility included buildings designed by noted architects Wiley G. Clarkson of Fort Worth and Herbert M. Greene of Dallas. The Masonic Home Independent School District was formed by the State Board of Education in 1913, and by 1930 more than 450 students were being cared for and educated here. Under terms of an agreement reached in 1911, Masonic widows were transferred to the new home for aged Masons in Arlington. Over the years the mission of the home to care for children of Texas Masons was expanded to offer educational opportunities to additional relatives of Masons, as well as to other children sponsored by Texas lodges. The school continues a legacy of excellence in education. The campus was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 1992. (1999)