Early education in Round Rock

Early education in Round Rock

Written by compiled by Jim Dawson Friday, 07 July 2006

Soon after Williamson County was founded in 1848, pioneer settler Jacob M. Harrell, a blacksmith, built a log schoolhouse for use by his neighbors. Believed to be the first school in the county, it was located at Moss Spring on Lake Creek. Later, Samuel L. Makemson and Dr. D.F. Knight opened another log cabin school north of Brushy Creek.

As the area developed, efforts were made to provide a complete community educational program. Early college training was offered by the Greenwood Masonic Institute, which was established in 1867. The school was later operated by local Presbyterian churches and by the city of Round Rock as Round Rock Institute.

In 1904, the Kansas Conference of the Augustana Lutheran Synod approved the establishment of an institution of higher learning in Texas. The people of Round Rock, headed by John Nelson, proposed to give the college nine acres of land, donate $7,000 in cash and drill a deep well if the school would locate in Round Rock. In addition, the Great Northern Railway Company agreed to transport all building materials at one-half the normal freight cost.

The school opened in the fall 1906, with four faculty members and an initial enrollment of 48 students in the academy and 11 in the music department. The enrollment totaled 96 the first year, 76 the second and 84 the third.

By 1929, mounting debts and low attendance prompted the merging with the Evangelical Lutheran College in Brenham. These two colleges combined to form Texas Lutheran and moved to its present day location in Seguin.

The vacated school was sold to the Lutheran Aid and Orphan society, and they opened a home for the care of children and the aged.

The first publicly supported school for Round Rock students opened in 1878. Public schools were supported by the county during the early days. However, in 1913 residents of the area voted to incorporate Williamson County Common School District No. 19 as the Round Rock Independent School District. M. G. York, an area school administrator, was chosen as the first superintendent of the new school system.

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