Whalen Lake School

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Two miles south of where you're standin' right now, there used to be a school. One of the first in all of Andrews County.

It opened in 1907, sitting near the north edge of Whalen Lake, on land that Mrs. M. B.

Dillard donated for the cause. Now, somebody had to actually build the thing, and that job fell to Joe and Jake Mathis. Will Gates put up the money for the materials, and just like that, a one-room schoolhouse took shape out on the West Texas flats.

One room. That's all it was, and that's all it needed to be. The children it served weren't the children of ranchers or merchants or folks with deep roots in the county.

They were the children of homesteaders, people out there proving up their claims, which meant living on the property for three years to make it theirs. You want to talk about commitment, that's it. Stick it out, or lose everything you came for.

That school had four teachers over its years, and here's the thing worth noticin': Miss Grace Stanford came, stayed one year, and moved on. A Mr. Taylor came, stayed one year, moved on.

Miss Mary Lewis, same story. Earl Lontz, same story. One year each, every one of them.

Whether that says something about the isolation, the wind, the emptiness, or just the nature of frontier teaching, the marker doesn't say, and neither will I. What the marker does say is that the school closed in 1910. And when it closed, the building was moved.

Because by then, most of the settlers had fulfilled their claim agreements and left. That's the quiet part of the story, the part that lands like a handful of dust. The whole community, the whole reason for that school, it scattered once the three years were up and the land was won.

The homesteaders proved up, got what they came for, and moved on, just like the teachers had. The school followed them into the distance. Nothing left near the north edge of Whalen Lake but the memory, and now this marker, and your wheels on the road.

What the marker says

(2 miles S.) One of the first schools in Andrews County, opened in 1907 near the north edge of Whalen Lake, on land donated by Mrs. M. B. Dillard. The one-room school, built by Joe and Jake Mathis, with materials purchased by Will Gates, served the children of homesteaders "proving up" their claims by living on the property 3 years. Teachers were Miss Grace Stanford, a Mr. Taylor, Miss Mary Lewis, and Earl Lontz, each remaining one year. The school closed in 1910, and the building was moved, as most of the settlers fulfilled their claim agreements and left. (1974)