Old Mason Grammar School
Mason, Mason County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located near Gamel Springs on grounds of Fort Mason (1851-61; 1866-69), the last Federal command of Robert E. Lee prior to Civil War. Constructed in 1887, by August Brockmann, of stone from post buildings, quarried on this hill. Served Mason until 1952, with curriculum including music and German, structure now serves community as a public library, museum, youth center, and civic activities building. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This schoolhouse rose in 1887 from stone quarried on the hill and salvaged from the buildings of Fort Mason, the frontier post where Robert E. Lee held his last federal command before the Civil War. For more than sixty years it taught Mason's children a curriculum that included music and German, and it later found new life as the town's library, museum, and civic center.
Why it matters
Built literally from the stones of a frontier army fort, the school shows how a community recycled its military past into an enduring investment in education.
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Related people
- · Robert E. Lee
- · August Brockmann
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Methodism in Mason County
Mason, TX
When Mason County organized in 1858, Methodists here were served by both English- and German-speaking circuit riders, reflecting the region's mixed Anglo and German settlement. Four separate conferences long worshiped apart in the schoolhouse and courthouse before joining to build a shared sanctuary in 1877 and finally uniting by 1939. The congregation became known for raising up pastors and supporting missions and charities.
Fort Mason, Site of
Mason, TX
The U.S. Army established Fort Mason on July 6, 1851, to shield the Texas frontier, naming it for Lt. George T. Mason, who had been killed near Brownsville in the war with Mexico. Between 1856 and 1861 it hosted officers of the famed 2nd U.S. Cavalry — Albert Sidney Johnston, George H. Thomas, Earl Van Dorn, and Robert E. Lee — many of whom would win fame or infamy in the coming Civil War. Federal troops abandoned the post in March 1861 and returned only after the war, garrisoning it until 1869.
Mason County
Mason vicinity, TX
Created and organized in 1858, Mason County took its name from Fort Mason, the frontier post garrisoned on and off from 1851 to 1869. The fort honored Lt. G. T. Mason of the U.S. 2nd Dragoons, killed near Brownsville in 1846. It was one link in a chain of Army posts spaced a day's ride apart from the Red River to the Rio Grande, built to shield settlers from Apache and Comanche raids.
Art Schoolhouse
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Raised of native stone and lumber in 1875, this building began as the area's second Methodist church, replacing an 1858 church-and-school structure lost to fire. After the 1890s it served solely as a school until 1945, when Mason County consolidated its scattered rural schools. Today it houses the Art Community Club, still the gathering point for a tiny Hill Country settlement.