Original Site of Mountain Valley School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this piece of Comal County history. Now, out here in the Texas Hill Country, schools didn't just appear out of nowhere. Someone had to want them bad enough to make them happen.

And in 1874, that's exactly what took shape on this very ground. Carl and Matilda Marschall sold one acre, just one acre, to three men: Fritz Krause, Fritz Pantermuehl, and Joachim Pantermuehl. One acre.

That's all it took to plant a school. The Jacobs Creek School, which had been serving the community nearby, joined the new operation, and together they settled into a one-room log cabin. One room.

One cabin. One community pulling itself together. That cabin did its job from 1874 all the way until 1883, when it was converted into a teacherage, and a brand new school was built to replace it.

This new school wasn't just a school, either. It doubled as a church meeting place, which tells you something about how hard these communities worked to get more out of every nail and every board. Now, here's the thing about a school that lasts.

Mountain Valley School stood on this original site for eighty-three years. Eighty-three. But in 1956, Comal County reorganized the school district, and the small, rural schools that had served their communities for decades were closed.

The district held onto the property a little while longer, then sold it in 1962. One acre. One cabin.

One room that grew into something that lasted the better part of a century, and then, quietly, it was gone.

What the marker says

Original site of Mountain Valley School The original Mountain Valley School was located at this site for 83 years. In 1874, Carl and Matilda Marschall sold one acre to Fritz Krause, Fritz Pantermuehl and Joachim Pantermuehl for use as a school. The nearby Jacobs Creek School joined the new school in a one-room log cabin, which served from 1874 until 1883, when it was converted into a teacherage and a new school, which also served as a church meeting place, was built. In 1956, the county reorganized the school district, closing the small, rural schools that had served their communities for decades. The district sold this property in 1962. (2002)