Education in Round Rock

The plaque does not say that Round Rock's schools were segregated. The district's own history records a Colored School opening in September 1914 in space leased from a church, the same month a three-story building opened on Anderson Avenue for White students. Hopewell School, paid for by the Rosenwald Fund, opened for Black students in October 1922. Mexican American children went to a separate Mexican School until the 1948 Delgado lawsuit. The board voted for full compliance in August 1964, and Anthony Mays entered Round Rock High that fall as its first Black student. Hopewell closed in 1966.

What the plaque says

Education in Round Rock Soon after Williamson County was founded in 1848, pioneer settler Jacob M. Harrell, a blacksmith, built a log schoolhouse for use by his neighbors. Believed to be the first school in the county, it was located at Moss' Spring on Lake Creek (2 mi. SW). Later, another log cabin school was opened north of Brushy Creek by Samuel L. Makemson and Dr. D. F. Knight. As the area developed, efforts were made to provide a complete community educational program. Early college training was offered by the Greenwood Masonic Institute, which was established in 1867. The school was later operated by local Presbyterian churches and by the city as Round Rock Institute. The first publicly-supported school for Round Rock students opened in 1878. A second college, Trinity Lutheran, was in operation from 1904 to 1929. In 1913 residents of the area voted to incorporate Williamson County Common School District No. 19 as the Round Rock Independent School District. M. G. York, an area school administrator, was chosen as the first Superintendent of the new school system. Under the direction of such superintendents as O. F. Perry, 1939-57, and Noel Grisham, 1957-79, the district has been noted for rapid growth and quality education. (1981)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Round Rock — 0.5 mi
  A table-shaped stone in Brushy Creek gave Round Rock its name in 1854; the Chisholm Trail crossed the creek near it, and Old Town stayed behind when the railroad pulled the town east.
• Inner Space Cavern — 6.7 mi
  A Georgetown cave found in 1963 when highway engineers drilled test holes, holding Pleistocene fossils and 72-degree rooms that visitors reach by an artificial tunnel.
• Williamson County Courthouse — 8.7 mi
  The fifth Williamson County courthouse, a Beaux Arts building by C. H. Page, rises over a Georgetown square of more than 50 Victorian-era buildings.
• Mount Bonnell — 14 mi
  Austin's old lookout over the Colorado, named by an 1838 traveler, picnicked on by George and Libbie Custer, and reached by a 1939 flight of about 100 limestone steps.

More markers nearby

• Round Rock Cemetery — 0.4 mi
• Slave Burial Ground in Old Round Rock Cemetery — 0.4 mi
• The Round Rock — 0.5 mi
• In Memory of The Pioneer Builders — 1.0 mi