Grapetown School

A brief history of Grapetown School

Built in 1884. Teacherage in 1887. Consolidated in 1949. One of four schools which still has the original teacherage, the house where the teacher lived. This limestone two-room teacherage was built in 1887. Later a frame kitchen, storeroom, and smokehouse was erected. It was used until 1949 when Grapetown School District was consolidated with Rocky Hill School District as part of the rural school consolidation in Texas.

History of Grapetown School

The Grapetown community began in 1857, when Ferdinand Doebbler built a stagecoach stop at the crossing of Immigrant Road and Upper South Grape Creek. As settlers moved into the community, a need arose for a school. Mr. Doebbler bought a small stone house from James William Vance, which he donated as a schoolhouse. After the Civil War, a log school was built on the Friedrich Baag property.

On April 1, 1882, Friedrich Baag gave a parcel of land with the provision that no religious or political meetings would be conducted at the school. The labor to build the limestone one-room schoolhouse was donated by men from the community. Since construction took place whenever time could be spared, it took 2½ years to complete the building. In 1886, a decision was made to build a two-room stone teacherage with a porch. It was completed in 1887. Later, a frame kitchen and storeroom were added on the north side of the house, and a stone smokehouse was erected near the house.

School closing picnics or celebrations were always held in the early days. Activities included a children's program with skits, drills, plays, songs, and poems, as well as public oral examinations that were very hard and took a great deal of courage.

In 1904, the boundary lines of the school district were set by the county for tax purposes, and children from as far away as Kendall County attended. In 1944, the 11 pupils of Grapetown were transported to the Cain City School. This continued there until 1949, when the Grapetown School consolidated with the Rocky Hill School District.

The last class of Grapetown students was in 1944. Due to low enrollment numbers, Grapetown students attended Cain City School in 1945. With the passage of the Gilmer-Aikin Laws in 1949, the Grapetown and Cain City schools were consolidated with Rocky Hill School. Since the residents and parents had built the former Grapetown School, the Grapetown Community Club was organized in 1951 for the purpose of regaining community ownership and preservation of the school and its history. There are only two living students remaining as of December 2024.

For more historical information about the Grapetown School, visit the website created by the Klinksiek Family.