DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1840, out in the pioneer town of Swartout, six miles southwest of where we're standing now, a group of men got together and organized what would become Trinity Lodge Number Fourteen, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Now, Swartout sat in what was then Liberty County, and the territory was raw and new, the kind of place where you built everything from scratch or you did without.
These Masons, they didn't do without. They erected a two-story building, which in 1840 pioneer Texas was no small thing. But here's what makes the story land a little differently than you might expect.
They didn't just build for themselves. The Masons turned around and helped organize the first school in the area, and they furnished the lower floor of that Lodge building for school use. Paid money out of their own pockets for salaries, tuition, and supplies.
Think about that. The schoolhouse and the Lodge were one and the same building, the children learning their letters on the ground floor while the brothers met above. Then in 1846 the Lodge moved here to Livingston, and they did the same thing all over again.
Furnished the building for the first school in Livingston. That school used the Lodge's building all the way until 1908. Sixty-some years of children walking through those doors to get an education, because a Lodge decided that was worth doing.
Trinity Lodge has been meeting at this very site since 1970, and they are still, right now, taking an active part in promoting education in Polk County. Some legacies, turns out, don't need a lot of fanfare. They just keep showing up.
What the marker says
In 1840 this Masonic Lodge was organized in the pioneer town of Swartout (Swartwout) (6 mi. SW) in what was then Liberty County. After erecting a two-story building, the Masons assisted in organizing the first school in the area and furnished the lower floor of the Lodge for school use. Members gave money for salaries, tuition, and supplies. The Masons furnished the building for the first school in Livingston after moving the Lodge here in 1846. The school used their building until 1908. Trinity Lodge has met at this site since 1970 and has taken an active part in promoting education in Polk County. (1983)