Pond Springs Community and School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Pond Springs Community and School, out in Williamson County. Now, it all starts — as so many Texas stories do — with one man, one piece of land, and water. James O.

Rice settled near a spring-fed pond sometime in the 1850s, and the area took on the name Pond Spring, simple as that. Out here on the Texas frontier, you named what you found, and what Rice found was worth naming. By 1854, folks had already put up a log school building near that pond — about a mile north of where you're standing right now.

And don't let the word "school" fool you into thinkin' that's all it was. That one log structure served as a schoolhouse, a house of worship, and a social center. Three jobs, one building.

Frontier efficiency at its finest. Around that same era, a man named Thomas S. Rutledge was keepin' the community humming with a nearby store, a post office, and a blacksmith shop.

So you had learning, you had faith, you had commerce, and you had somebody to shoe your horse. That's a community. But here's where the story turns, the way these stories tend to.

The post office closed in 1880. Then, in 1882, the Austin and Northwestern Railroad came through — and bypassed Pond Springs entirely. When the railroad doesn't stop for you, the future's already made its decision.

The community declined. The school, though — the school held on. It consolidated in 1903 with Jollyville.

It moved to this very site in 1927. And in 1969, it became part of the Round Rock district. That little log building near the pond had traveled a long road, in more ways than one.

And the story's got one more move left in it. In 2006, the Round Rock Independent School District relocated this historical marker to its current location — making this the fourth site of the Pond Springs School. Fourth site.

One community, one spring, one stubborn sense of place — and it's still here, still marked, still worth the stop.

What the marker says

After James O. Rice settled in the 1850s near a spring-fed pond, the area was called "Pond Spring." By 1854 a log school building was erected near the pond (1 mi.N) and also served for worship and a social center. Thomas S. Rutledge ran a nearby store, post office and blacksmith shop. After the post office closed in 1880 and the Austin & Northwestern Railroad bypassed Pond Springs in 1882, the community declined. The school was consolidated in 1903 with Jollyville, moved to this site in 1927, and became part of the Round Rock district in 1969. (1979) supplemental plaque: In 2006, the Round Rock Independent School District moved this historical marker, commemorating the Pond Springs community and school, to this location, the fourth site of the Pond Springs School.