Site of Bunjes School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Site of Bunjes School, out in Lavaca County. Pull up a chair, because this one's got fire, stubbornness, and the kind of community grit that built half of Texas. It starts with a piece of land and a deal.

On June 25, 1886, a man named H.J. Strunk, a resident of Colorado County, sold five acres for use as a school and cemetery to the Shinerville School community. That community had taken its name from area landowner H.B.

Shiner, and now they were ready to build something real. They funded it themselves, built it themselves, and staffed it themselves. They even shipped lumber in all the way from Flatonia, twenty miles to the northwest, and helped with the carpentry work by hand.

Pretty soon, though, they ran into a problem most folks don't anticipate when naming a school: there was already a Shiner school in nearby Shiner. So they renamed it Shiner School No. 2, just to keep the confusion to a minimum. That name wouldn't stick either, but we'll get to why in a moment.

The school started out offering classes up through grade six, and over the years it added more. Patrons built a teacherage for William Fertsch and his wife, which tells you something about how serious this community was about keeping good teachers close. In 1895, they added an acre of land and put in a road so students could actually get to the place.

Now here's where the story picks up some heat, literally. At some point, the roof of that schoolhouse caught fire. And a trustee named Ferdinand Bunjes led a bucket brigade that saved the building.

Saved it. The whole thing, standing. The community thought that deserved some recognition, and so the school was renamed in his honor.

Bunjes School. A name earned the hard way. In the early years, attendance was irregular, as it tended to be in farming country.

In 1916, the State of Texas stepped in and mandated a six-month school year, but farm families still pulled their kids out for agricultural work. Some things a government mandate can't fully reach. Otto Fisseler taught at the school from 1912 to 1919, and when he left, Charles Chovanetz took over, teaching alongside his wife Martha.

They would stay until 1951. That is a tenure. During those years, in 1933, fire came back to Bunjes School.

This time it didn't spare anything. The teacherage burned down completely. The district absorbed that loss and kept going.

By 1937 they had constructed a new schoolhouse. But the world was changing around them. The Great Depression, World War II, and waves of educational reform were reshaping rural Texas, and one by one the small independent districts were being folded into larger ones.

In 1951, Bunjes School District No. 20 merged with Shiner Independent School District. The schoolhouse itself lived on for a while as a residence. The building that Ferdinand Bunjes once kept from burning, the one those families built board by board with lumber hauled twenty miles from Flatonia, the one that Charles and Martha Chovanetz taught in for decades, became somebody's home.

And that, right there, might be the most Texas ending of all.

What the marker says

On June 25, 1886, H.J. Strunk, a resident of Colorado County, Texas, sold five acres of land for use as a school and cemetery to the Shinerville School community, originally named for area landowner H.B. Shiner. Residents funded, built and staffed the new schoolhouse, shipping lumber in from Flatonia (20 mi. NW) and assisting in carpentry work. They soon renamed it Shiner School No. 2 to avoid confusion with the city school in nearby Shiner. A later name change honored trustee Ferdinand Bunjes, who had led a bucket brigade that saved the building when the roof caught fire. The school initially offered classes up to grade six but added more grades over the years. Patrons built a teacherage for William Fertsch and his wife, and in 1895 the community added an acre of land, as well as a road that helped students access the school. In the early years, attendance was irregular. In 1916, the State of Texas mandated a six-month school year, but absenteeism for agricultural work remained common among farm families. Otto Fisseler taught at the school from 1912 to 1919, when he was replaced by Charles Chovanetz, who taught with his wife, Martha, until 1951. During their tenure, in 1933, a fire destroyed the teacherage. The district recovered from the loss and also constructed a new schoolhouse in 1937. The Great Depression, World War II, and educational reform eventually resulted in the consolidation of such rural school districts in Texas, and in 1951 Bunjes School District No. 20 merged with Shiner Independent School District. The schoolhouse later became a residence, but the history of Bunjes School remains a reflection of the community's early education efforts. (2005)