Site of Prairie Point Community
Bertram, Burnet County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Anglo settlement of this part of Burnet County began in the 1850s. By the 1870s settlers had established cattle and sheep ranches as well as a number of family farms. A community school opened in 1882 and remained in operation until 1921. The Prairie Point Missionary Baptist Church was organized in 1883 and met in the schoolhouse until it burned in 1890. The congregation worshipped in a brush arbor until a new school was erected, then met at the school until 1906, when a new sanctuary was built. The church eventually was disbanded in 1957. (1993)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Anglo settlers began arriving in this part of Burnet County in the 1850s, and by the 1870s they had established cattle and sheep ranches alongside family farms. The Prairie Point community coalesced around a school that opened in 1882 and a Missionary Baptist church organized in 1883, which met in the schoolhouse, then a brush arbor, before building its own sanctuary in 1906. Both school and church eventually faded—the school closing in 1921, the congregation disbanding in 1957—leaving Prairie Point a vanished frontier settlement.
Why it matters
Its rise and disappearance trace the full arc of a Texas frontier farming community, from hopeful settlement to quiet abandonment.
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Themes & tags
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