Witting School

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, as best as Duane can carry the tale. Back in the 1870s and 1880s, a considerable number of German-speaking immigrants made their way into northwestern Lavaca County. They were putting down roots, building something in a part of Texas that was still findin' its shape.

And among those settlers came a man named George Witting. Now, Witting wasn't starting from nothing. He was a wealthy commission merchant, originally out of Columbus, Texas, and he became a large landowner in the area.

The kind of man a community notices. The kind of man who, when he decides to do something, it gets done. In September of 1880, Witting donated an acre of land.

He handed it over to three trustees, Peter Pundt, Gerhard Boening, and Fritz Gehrels, to be held for a German-English non-sectarian school association, with one purpose: build a school. And that same year, they did. A single-room wood frame building, twenty by forty feet, with a small storeroom tucked in the back.

Cost them five hundred and forty dollars. They named it after Witting. By 1890, the enrollment had ballooned.

That little single room couldn't hold what the community had become. So the district drilled a water well and erected a new three-room schoolhouse, this one with a long porch, a windmill, and a cistern house. Before 1919, every bit of that school's operation ran on tuition.

Two dollars per student, per term. Two dollars. The Witting Schoolhouse did more than teach reading and arithmetic.

It served the community as a place for public meetings, gatherings, and social events. And for more than forty years, the local Evangelical Lutheran Congregation used it as a temporary church for Sunday services and Bible study groups. That building held a whole community's worth of living.

Then came 1969. The Lavaca County School Board closed the Witting School and consolidated it with two other schools. Witting was one of the oldest rural schools in Lavaca County, and one of the last to close.

With its sale, the marker says plainly, the long proud history of the Witting School came to a close. Eighty-nine years of service as a focal point of rural education in northwestern Lavaca County. One acre donated, one name given, one community held together by a wood frame building and the people who believed in it.

What the marker says

In the 1870s to 1880s a considerable number of German-speaking immigrants migrated to northwestern Lavaca county. One of them was George Witting, who was a wealthy commission merchant originally from Columbus, Texas. Witting became a large landowner in the area and in September 1880 he donated an acre of land to Peter Pundt, Gerhard Boening and Fritz Gehrels as trustees of the German-English non-sectarian school association for the purpose of building a school. That year a single-room wood frame building measuring 20 x 40 feet with a small storeroom in the back was constructed at a cost of $540 and named after witting. By 1890, enrollment had ballooned and forced the district to drill a water well and to erect a new three-room schoolhouse with a long porch, a windmill and a cistern house. Before 1919, the witting school was maintained entirely upon tuition which was $2.00 per student per term. The Witting Schoolhouse served the little community as a place for public meetings, gatherings and some social events. The local Evangelical Lutheran Congregation also used it for more than 40 years as its temporary church for Sunday services and bible study groups. The Lavaca County School Board closed the Witting School and consolidated it with two other schools in 1969. Witting School was one of the oldest rural schools in Lavaca County and one of the last to close. With its sale, the long, proud history of the Witting School came to a close and ended 89 years of service as a focal point of rural education in northwestern Lavaca County.