Old Mason Grammar School

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's what this old stone schoolhouse has to say for itself. You're standing near Gamel Springs, on the grounds of Fort Mason, which stood here from 1851 to 1861, and again from 1866 to 1869. And if that dates range sounds familiar, well, it should.

This was the last Federal command of Robert E. Lee prior to the Civil War. That's the ground beneath this building's foundation.

History has a way of stacking up like stone in this part of Texas, and speaking of stone, that is precisely how this school came to be. In 1887, a man named August Brockmann constructed the Mason Grammar School out of stone from the old post buildings, quarried right here on this hill. The fort was gone, but Brockmann made sure the material didn't go to waste.

He built something that would last. And last it did. The Old Mason Grammar School served this community clear through 1952, and what a school it was.

The curriculum included music and German alongside the usual studies, which tells you something about the character of Mason and the people who put down roots here. Then, after all those decades of chalk dust and lessons and young voices filling its rooms, the building didn't sit down and quit. It kept serving.

Today that same stone structure, the one Brockmann raised from the bones of a frontier fort, functions as a public library, a museum, a youth center, and a civic activities building. Fort to school to community cornerstone. Some buildings just refuse to be finished.

What the marker says

Located near Gamel Springs on grounds of Fort Mason (1851-61; 1866-69), the last Federal command of Robert E. Lee prior to Civil War. Constructed in 1887, by August Brockmann, of stone from post buildings, quarried on this hill. Served Mason until 1952, with curriculum including music and German, structure now serves community as a public library, museum, youth center, and civic activities building. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965