Peter's Prairie School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Peter's Prairie School has to say, and friend, this one's got layers. Pull over if you need to, because a lot happened on this patch of Mason County ground. Back in the 1850s and 1860s, a Mason County landowner who went by the name 'Major' Joshua Peters was out here cutting prairie grasses and hauling them to Fort Mason for the horses.

That was the work, that was the land, and that was the man the community took its name from. Peter's Prairie. Simple as that.

Now, a community without a school is just a collection of neighbors, and in 1877 John Rhoads and W. H. Morris decided to do something about that.

They petitioned the county commissioners to open a community school on land deeded by Larkin Morris, south of where we're standing now. Rhoads, W. H.

Morris, and a man named C. Coalson were named trustees, and the community went to work raising money. One hundred and forty-nine dollars and sixty cents.

That's what they scraped together locally to fund a new picket schoolhouse, and when the doors opened, fifty-nine students walked through them. One of the earliest teachers was Miss Jane Hurley, and you get the feeling she had her hands full with fifty-nine kids in a picket building out on the Texas prairie. Then in 1894, J.

W. Henry bought four acres from J. H.

Tabor to build a frame school at the current site, moving the whole operation to where you're standing right now. And the community wasn't done showing what it thought of education. Come 1913, the citizens of Peter's Prairie raised their ad valorem tax rate from twenty cents to fifty cents per hundred dollars valuation.

That's not a typo. They voluntarily taxed themselves more, because they believed in what was happening inside that schoolhouse. After Peter's Prairie and Fikes Schools consolidated in 1921, they built something to match that ambition.

A new three-room school, built from masonry blocks that were poured and formed on Ms. Anna Martin's property on the Llano River and then hauled here by wagon. Every single block.

And when it was done, this place had a water well, a playground, and courts for basketball, volleyball, and tennis. Now here's where the story takes a particular turn. Mason County has a championship tennis tradition, and it started right here, introduced by a man named Walter Adkins.

One of the players who learned the game on these courts was Helen Sell Tallent, and she went on to become an inaugural inductee of the Texas Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame. What Walter Adkins started at a little rural school on the prairie eventually produced a Hall of Famer. That's not nothing.

Peter's Prairie taught grades one through ten, and the quality of education coming out of these walls was confirmed by numerous academic and athletic awards won by students in rural school competitions. This place was competing, and winning. In 1946, Peter's Prairie consolidated with Mason Schools, and one chapter closed.

But here's the thing about a community that poured its own blocks, raised its own taxes, and built something worth believing in. The schoolhouse didn't go quiet. It kept serving.

Dances, lunches, showers, musical performances, Christmas parties, a quilting club. The heart of Peter's Prairie kept beating, right here, in the building they built with blocks hauled by wagon from the Llano River. Some places earn the right to be called the heart of a community.

This one did the math the hard way.

What the marker says

DURING THE 1850s AND 1860s, MASON COUNTY LANDOWNER, “MAJOR” JOSHUA PETERS, SUPPLIED CUT PRAIRIE GRASSES FROM HERE TO FORT MASON FOR THEIR HORSES. THE COMMUNITY WHICH DEVELOPED TOOK THE NAME PETER’S PRAIRIE. IN 1877, JOHN RHOADS AND W. H. MORRIS PETITIONED COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO OPEN A COMMUNITY SCHOOL ON LAND DEEDED BY LARKIN MORRIS SOUTH OF THE PRESENT SITE. RHOADS, W. H. MORRIS, AND C. COALSON WERE NAMED TRUSTEES, AND $149.60 WAS RAISED LOCALLY TO FUND THE NEW PICKET SCHOOLHOUSE, WHICH OPENED WITH 59 STUDENTS. MISS JANE HURLEY WAS ONE OF THE EARLIEST TEACHERS. IN 1894, J. W. HENRY BOUGHT FOUR ACRES FROM J. H. TABOR TO BUILD A FRAME SCHOOL AT THE CURRENT SITE. CITIZENS SHOWED THEIR COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION BY RAISING THEIR AD VALOREM TAX RATE FROM 20 TO 50 CENTS PER 100 DOLLARS VALUATION IN 1913. AFTER PETER’S PRAIRIE AND FIKES SCHOOLS CONSOLIDATED IN 1921, A NEW THREE-ROOM SCHOOL WAS BUILT FROM MASONRY BLOCKS POURED AND FORMED ON MS. ANNA MARTIN’S PROPERTY ON THE LLANO RIVER AND HAULED HERE BY WAGON. THE GROUNDS INCLUDED A WATER WELL, PLAYGROUND, AND COURTS FOR BASKETBALL, VOLLEYBALL AND TENNIS. MASON COUNTY’S CHAMPIONSHIP TENNIS TRADITION STARTED HERE, INTRODUCED BY WALTER ADKINS. HELEN SELL TALLENT, WHO PLAYED HERE, WAS AN INAUGURAL INDUCTEE OF THE TEXAS TENNIS COACHES ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME. PETER’S PRAIRIE TAUGHT GRADES ONE THROUGH TEN, AND THE HIGH QUALITY OF EDUCATION WAS CONFIRMED BY NUMEROUS ACADEMIC AND ATHLETIC AWARDS WON BY STUDENTS IN RURAL SCHOOL COMPETITIONS. ALTHOUGH PETER’S PRAIRIE SCHOOL CONSOLIDATED WITH MASON SCHOOLS IN 1946, THE SCHOOLHOUSE CONTINUES TO SERVE AS A CENTER OF LOCAL ACTIVITY AND AS THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY. THE SCHOOL HAS HOSTED SUCH COMMUNITY FUNCTIONS AS DANCES, LUNCHES, SHOWERS, MUSICAL PERFORMANCES, CHRISTMAS PARTIES, AND A QUILTING CLUB.