Spring Garden School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Spring Garden School, out in Tarrant County. Now, picture yourself in the fall of 1865. The war is barely over, the dust hasn't settled, and yet, and yet, what are the settlers of this area worried about?

Their children's schooling. That's the kind of people we're talking about. Four men stepped up: Samuel Witten, Levin Moody, Milton Moore, and Caleb Smith.

They joined forces, pooled their grit, and set about building a schoolhouse. Witten himself donated the land; half a mile north of where that marker stands today; and the school that rose on it took the name Spring Garden, named after Witten's home back in Missouri. Right from the start, Spring Garden School earned a reputation.

Not for the building, not for the location, but for its teachers. The marker calls them excellent, and out on the Texas frontier in 1865, an excellent teacher was worth more than gold. For over a decade, children were getting a real education in that little schoolhouse.

But two things conspired against it. The town of Bedford was growing, drawing people and attention in a new direction. And then, in 1872, fire took the schoolhouse down entirely.

Between those two forces, Spring Garden School closed its doors for good around 1878. Thirteen years. That's what it got.

But the marker that remembers it says something worth sitting with: that its history is a reminder of the importance of Texas' pioneer schools. Somebody cared enough to build one in 1865, and somebody cared enough to make sure we don't forget it.

What the marker says

The concern of area settlers to provide a school for their children resulted in the opening of the Spring Garden School in the fall of 1865. Samuel Witten, Levin Moody, Milton Moore, and Caleb Smith joined forces to build a schoolhouse on land (1/2 mi. N) donated by Witten. Named Spring Garden after Witten's home in Missouri, the School was noted for its excellent teachers. The growth of Bedford and an 1872 fire that destroyed the schoolhouse contributed to the closing of Spring Garden School about 1878. Its history is a reminder of the importance of Texas' pioneer schools.