DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Kyle School has to say — and it's a story worth the stop. Public education in the Kyle area traces its roots all the way back to the Texas Constitution of 1876, which established a statewide free school system. That same year, school trustees D.A.
Barbee, D.J.B. Barbee, and Captain Fergus Kyle acted on that new law and founded the Summit School — one mile northwest of Kyle. Then in 1877, the nearby Blanco Chapel School first held classes, and before long, those two schools came together and consolidated as Independence Hall.
In 1890, citizens physically moved the Independence Hall schoolhouse to this very site, and just like that, the Kyle Public Free School was born. The school grew steadily right alongside the town — adding facilities, expanding the campus — until by the 1930s, the school board had its eyes on something bigger: a combination auditorium and gymnasium, and a home economics cottage. Now, this is the 1930s we're talking about.
The Great Depression has its boot on the country's neck. But that's exactly when the Works Progress Administration — the WPA, a New Deal agency — was out here doing its work. The federal government covered about three-fourths of the cost, and Kyle voters held up their end, approving a bond issue in February 1935 to fund the rest.
Work began in January 1936, putting 29 men to work and bringing general improvements to the school grounds and athletic fields besides. That wasn't quite the end of it — voters came back in September 1936 and approved additional bonds to finish the job, and supplemental WPA funding followed to pay for a new main classroom building in 1938. Every bit of it was crafted by local labor and built of locally quarried limestone.
Those buildings have stood here ever since, serving as educational facilities and social centers for the community. In 1967, Kyle merged with other county schools to form the Hays Consolidated Independent School District — a chapter closing, and a bigger one opening. But those limestone walls?
Still here. Still working. Built by hand, built to last, built when it mattered most.
What the marker says
Public education in the Kyle area dates to the Texas Constitution of 1876 and its establishment of a statewide free school system. Under this legislation, school trustees D.A. Barbee, D.J.B. Barbee and Captain Fergus Kyle founded the Summit School that same year one mile northwest of Kyle. In 1877 the nearby Blanco Chapel School first held classes, and the two schools soon consolidated as Independence Hall. Citizens moved the Independence Hall schoolhouse to this site in 1890, marking the beginning of the Kyle Public Free School. The school grew steadily with the town, adding facilities to the campus, and by the 1930s the school board applied to the federal government for construction funds for a combination auditorium/gymnasium and a home economics cottage. Through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal agency active during the Great Depression, the U.S. government paid for about three-fourths of the cost, while Kyle voters approved a bond issue in February 1935 to fund the remainder. Work on the project began in January 1936, giving jobs to 29 men, and also resulting in general improvements to the school grounds and athletic fields. Voters approved additional bonds to complete the project in September 1936, and supplemental WPA funding helped pay for a new main classroom building in 1938. The WPA buildings at the Kyle campus, crafted by local labor and built of locally quarried limestone, have served since their construction as educational facilities and social centers. Kyle merged with other county schools in 1967 to form the Hays Consolidated Independent School District. (2007)