DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Van Common School, out there in Van Zandt County. Now, before we get to the part that changes everything — and there is a part that changes everything — let's start at the beginning, because this school had to earn its place before it ever opened its doors. Back in 1916, two schools — Swindall and Spring Hill — were consolidated to form Van Common School.
The district needed a new building, and they had a plan: five acres less than one mile east of Van. They had bond money, they had state aid, and they had a problem. The construction materials were sitting at the railhead in Grand Saline, thirteen miles away.
Thirteen miles of East Texas road between the supplies and the building site. So the community did what communities out here do. They volunteered.
Every one of them agreed to haul materials at no expense to the district. And when it was all said and done, they had moved one hundred and fourteen wagon loads from Grand Saline to that building site. One hundred and fourteen.
You don't forget a number like that, and neither did the people who made those trips. The school opened with ninety-five students and four teachers: Professor E.C. Tunnell, Professor E.R.
Tunnell, Miss Eula Fowler, and Miss Lucy Brawner. Two Tunnells on the faculty — whether that made things easier or more complicated, the marker doesn't say. For over a decade, Van Common School served its community just fine.
Then came May of 1928, and a fire destroyed the building. Just like that — gone. But the community didn't flinch for long.
A June ballot measure approved the issuance of bonds in the amount of three thousand dollars. Add in a thirty-five hundred dollar insurance payment, and the district had what it needed. They rebuilt on the same site, and the school was ready for the start of the 1928-1929 school year.
The 1929-1930 school year began with ninety pupils. And then came October 14, 1929. That is the date the marker gives, and it gives it precisely, because precision matters when you're talking about the day oil was discovered less than a mile from the school.
Not a year. Not a season. October the fourteenth.
The marker says it dramatically changed the school district as well as the entire community. You can feel that word — dramatically — doing a lot of work in that sentence. School administrators and board members knew they needed to plan ahead for massive community growth.
That's the polite way of saying everything was about to be turned upside down. And then, as if the discovery itself weren't disruption enough, oil drilling began on school property, approximately five hundred feet from the building. Five hundred feet.
The school building was temporarily moved to an adjacent site just to keep things functioning. And in 1931, an election was held to secure funding for a greatly expanded school site — all to accommodate the population explosion that came along with the oil. Think about the arc of this place.
A community hauls a hundred and fourteen wagon loads of material across thirteen miles to build something from nothing. They survive a fire and rebuild in a single summer. And then the ground beneath them opens up and changes everything anyway.
Some schools get remembered for their teachers or their championship teams. Van Common School gets remembered for what the community did before a single student ever walked through the door — and for what the earth did once they weren't looking.
What the marker says
In 1916, Swindall and Spring Hill Schools were consolidated to form Van Common School. Money raised with a bond election and state aid enabled the district to build a new school on five acres less than one mile east of Van. In order to reduce costs, community members agreed to haul at no expense 114 wagon loads of construction materials to the building site from the railhead at Grand Saline, 13 miles away. The school opened with 95 students and four teachers: Prof. E.C. Tunnell, Prof. E.R. Tunnell, Miss Eula Fowler and Miss Lucy Brawner. The school served the needs of the community until a May 1928 fire destroyed the building. A June ballot measure approved the issuance of bonds in the amount of $3,000. This amount and the $3,500 insurance payment enabled the district to rebuild a school that was ready for the start of the 1928-1929 school year at the same site. The 1929-1930 school year began with 90 pupils. However, the discovery of oil on October 14, 1929, less than a mile from the school, dramatically changed the school district as well as the entire community. School administrators and board members knew that they needed to plan ahead for massive community growth. Another contribution to the disruptions in the school district’s operations was the oil drilling on school property, approximately 500 feet from the building. The school building was temporarily moved to an adjacent site, but an election was held in 1931 in order to secure funding for a greatly expanded school site to accommodate the population explosion that occurred as a result of the discovery of oil in Van.