Midlothian Public Schools

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Midlothian Public Schools. Now settle in, because this story starts way before there was a Midlothian to speak of. Way before there were brick schoolhouses and football stadiums and spring festivals.

It starts in 1850, with a single one-room log cabin out in the Hawkins settlement. That little cabin pulled double duty, serving as both a school and a church, sitting right where south 14th Street in Midlothian runs today. The Hawkins settlement itself would later be renamed Lebanon, but that cabin, that humble start, is where the whole story begins.

Then Midlothian came along, and with it, a new school. Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad President George B. Sealy donated Block 59, right at the intersection of West Avenue F, which folks also called College Street, and North 1st Street.

Donated it for educational purposes. And a Professor by the name of William Works stepped up and opened the Polytechnic Institute on that very block, welcoming forty students through the door. Forty.

Not a bad beginning. Public schools also took root at the southeast corner of South 2nd Street and West Avenue H, and that campus would gradually push eastward over the years, eventually becoming what is now called the J.R. Irvin Campus.

But the road there wasn't smooth. In 1893, the frame schoolhouse burned. Just gone.

And those students, they finished out the year holding classes in the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. You make do with what you have. That's a Texas tradition older than the state itself.

By 1906, the Midlothian Independent School District had formally organized. And in 1907, a new two-story brick schoolhouse was completed, designed by C.H. Page of Austin.

Brick this time. As enrollment grew, the district kept building. A grammar school with an auditorium went up in 1915.

Then in 1920, an elementary school was donated by Tom and Mattes Dees. Now, that donation carries some weight you ought to know about. The Dees had a daughter, Dell Mason Dees, who died of measles at age three.

That elementary school was their way of putting something lasting into a community that had taken something from them that could never be replaced. That same year, 1920, the Parent-Teacher Association launched the May Fete, which became their primary fundraiser and a tradition that would carry on for decades. And out near the east end of East Ohio Street, a stadium became the home field for Midlothian Panthers football and baseball.

African American students, it must be said, were taught at a separate campus, a campus that was later renamed the Booker T. Washington School, before integration came. That chapter belongs in this story too.

All of it does. More than a century after that very first log cabin went up in the Hawkins settlement, the Midlothian Independent School District is still at it, still educating and training, as the marker puts it, leaders of tomorrow. One room at a time, one generation at a time.

That little cabin in 1850 started something that just kept on going.

What the marker says

Early education in the area included a 1850 one-room log cabin in the Hawkins settlement, serving as a school and church. Its location was where south 14th street in Midlothian is now. The Hawkins settlement was later named Lebanon. A new school began in Midlothian upon its founding. Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad President George B. Sealy donated Block 59, at the intersection of West Avenue F (College Street) and North 1st Street, for educational purposes. Professor William Works opened the Polytechnic Institute there with 40 students. Public schools were at the southeast corner of South 2nd Street and West Avenue H. The campus gradually expanded eastward and is now called the J.R. Irvin Campus. The frame schoolhouse there burned in 1893, and the students finished the year attending classes in the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. The Midlothian Independent School District formed in 1906. A new two-story brick schoolhouse, designed by C.H. Page of Austin, was completed in 1907. African American students were taught at a separate campus, later renamed the Booker T. Washington School, before integration. As enrollment grew, additional buildings included a grammar school with auditorium (1915) and an elementary school (1920), donated by Tom and Mattes Dees, who daughter, Dell Mason Dees, had died of measles at age three. A stadium near the east end of East Ohio Street was the home field for Midlothian Panthers football and baseball games. Other longstanding traditions included the May Fete, begun in 1920 by the Parent-Teacher Association as their primary fundraiser. Enrollment has continued to grow, and more than a century after its founding, Midlothian Independent School District continues to educate and train leaders of tomorrow.