Red Brick School

Schooling came slowly to Burnet County. Small community schools at places like Hairston Creek, Pool Branch, Hoover's Valley and Oatmeal carried the load until a district system arrived in the 1890s. In 1896 the county superintendent asked for uniform textbooks, better attendance and more experienced teachers. As late as 1940 only 10 percent of residents over twenty-five had finished high school. Consolidation into larger independent districts came in the 1930s and 1940s; the figure was nearly 18 percent by 1960 and more than 60 percent by 1980.

What the plaque says

Red Brick School The Red Brick School was built on property bequeathed by early Burnet County pioneer Peter Kerr. Kerr migrated to what would become Burnet County in 1849. Active in the land and cattle business, he laid out the town of Hamilton, later renamed Burnet. When Kerr died in 1861, he left money to establish the Peter Kerr College in Burnet. However, two of Kerr's nephews had the will annulled, gifting only two acres for educational use. A schoolhouse stood on the property from 1874 until 1927, when the red brick school was built in its place. The school served as a high school until 1942, when it housed grades one through eight. Today it stands as a reminder of Burnet early founders' dedication to education. (2016)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Inks Lake State Park — 8.6 mi
  A state park on a constant-level lake of the Colorado, between Buchanan and Inks dams, with pink granite and gneiss at the water and CCC work along Park Road 4.
• Longhorn Cavern State Park — 9.0 mi
  A cave carved by an underground river in the Hill Country, cleared of mud by hand in the 1930s and reached down 52 stone steps on a guided tour.
• Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery — 9.7 mi
  A free federal hatchery below Inks Dam on the Colorado, with thirty production ponds that draw birds and a look at how fish are raised from egg to harvest.
• Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge: Doeskin Ranch — 13 mi
  A free federal refuge north of Lake Travis kept for two songbirds that need old juniper and oak, with trails at the Doeskin Ranch unit near Bertram.

More markers nearby

• Burnet County — 0.3 mi
• General Adam R. Johnson — 0.3 mi
• The Badger Building — 0.3 mi
• The Burnet Bulletin — 0.3 mi