"Rock School"
Wheeler, Wheeler County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built 1886, when Indians still raided nearby apple trees. Wheeler County's second school. Of native stone. Site gift of Tom Baley. Other donors: John Brown, Frank Chilton, Mr. Clark, Henry Frye, Bill Miller, J. E. Pior, Fred H. Rathjen, Jenkins Willliams. Teacher was Mrs. Gil Hodges. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built of native stone in 1886—when the marker recalls that Indians still raided nearby apple trees—the "Rock School" was Wheeler County's second, raised on land given by Tom Baley with help from a roll call of local donors. Mrs. Gil Hodges taught its pupils on the Texas Panhandle frontier, where settlement and the last years of open conflict still overlapped. Recognized as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1964, it recalls the earliest days of public education in the region.
Why it matters
The stone schoolhouse embodies how frontier communities prioritized education even as the Panhandle's Indian-wars era was drawing to a close.
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Related people
- · Tom Baley
- · Mrs. Gil Hodges
Themes & tags
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