Site of Reservation School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this place. Now, out here in Kerr County, as the 19th century drew to a close, settlers were pushing into the outlying areas, and wherever families went, the question always followed close behind: where are the children going to learn? Neighbors started pulling together, forming schools wherever they could.

And that's the world the Reservation School was born into. It started in 1907, just a single room, modest as you please, and it did double duty from the start, housing a Baptist church congregation right alongside its students. One room doing the work of two institutions.

That's a Texas kind of arrangement right there. Then came 1919, and a move. Anton and Emma Esquell deeded a portion of their land to make room for the school at this very site.

With that gift of ground came something bigger: a two-room building, outbuildings, horse stalls for the families riding in from the surrounding countryside, and a teacherage, a place for the teacher to actually live. The student population was growing, and this school was growing to meet it. The Baptist congregation kept on sharing the space for years, until 1935, when they changed their name and moved on to new facilities of their own.

The school kept its doors open, kept its students coming, right up until 1939, when the buses started rolling and the children were carried off to other area schools. Then, in 1941, the voters made it official: consolidation with Harper schools over in neighboring Gillespie County. One room in 1907.

A deed of land. A two-room building with horse stalls out back. And then, quietly, the buses came, and it was done.

What the marker says

As settlement in Kerr County began to spread to outlying areas at the end of the 19th century, neighbors gradually formed schools in which to educate their children. The Reservation School began in 1907 as a one-room school and also housed a Baptist church congregation. It was relocated to this site in 1919 after Anton and Emma Esquell deeded a portion of their land for a school. A larger two-room building and outbuildings including horse stalls and a teacherage were erected to accommodate an increasing student population. In 1935 the Baptist congregation changed its name and moved to new facilities. The school continued in operation until 1939, when students were bussed to other area schools. Voters officially approved consolidation with Harper schools in neighboring Gillespie County in 1941. (2000)