In Memory of The Pioneer Builders
Round Rock, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In memory of the pioneer builders of the Greenwood Masonic Institute, 1867-1881, one quarter mile west and Round Rock Institute, one half mile south, 1881-1891, under auspices Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1881-1887, and the Southern Presbyterian Church, 1887-1891, "Built for the People by the People" of Round Rock and vicinity. Erected by the State of Texas - 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the decades after the Civil War, small Texas communities pooled their own money and labor to educate their children, and Round Rock was no exception. From 1867 to 1891 the Greenwood Masonic Institute and its successor, the Round Rock Institute—run under Cumberland and Southern Presbyterian auspices—served local families under the motto 'Built for the People by the People.' The State of Texas raised this memorial in 1936 to the pioneers who built those schools.
Why it matters
It captures the grassroots, community-funded schooling that filled the gap before universal tax-supported public education reached the rural South.
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