Site of Oletha Common School

Oletha began in 1872, the Handbook of Texas says, when W. W. Barnett built a store on his ranch; a post office opened in 1886 in Joseph Wallace's general store and ran until 1947. The Handbook says moonshining spread during Prohibition, by local accounts with some thirty-six stills, and that racial prejudice was also common: Black and Mexican American people were not allowed in the community. Cotton, cattle and hogs brought cash to area farmers. The older settlement of Pottersville stood nearby. The Handbook says the Oletha school joined Groesbeck in 1968.

What the plaque says

Site of Oletha Common School Site of Oletha Common School Settlers at the turn of the 20th century educated their children in small schools within walking distance of their homes. Limestone County schools in this area were Union, established in 1895; Independence, 1897; Mount Joy, 1911; and Barnett Prairie and Center Point, both part of the Center Point Common School District, 1911. As local populations grew, rural school districts began to combine resources. In 1934, Independence and Center Point consolidated to form Oletha Common School District No. 45. Mount Joy joined them later that year and Union consolidated with them the following year. Dr. R.W. and Cora Jones donated a site at this location for the construction of a five-room schoolhouse. The school, which also housed an auditorium, served as a gathering place for community activities, fund raisers and meetings before burning in 1936. At that time, the district built a second school with five classrooms, a gymnasium, stage, office and library. Community members later supplied cafeteria lunches and trucks were converted into school buses. The blue and gold Oletha Owls participated in district sports and activities. The school provided education for grades one through eleven. In 1948, the upper grades transferred to Thornton High School, and the Oletha School began offering classes for fewer grades until 1962, when all of the Oletha district consolidated with Groesbeck Independent School District. The building was slowly dismantled, but memories remain of the former school and community center. Many former students value their Oletha School education and today are contributors to their community. (2003)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Old Fort Parker — 16 mi
  A rebuilt 1830s family stockade near the Navasota River, where a May 1836 attack killed men of the Parker settlement and took five captives, among them nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker.
• Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site — 21 mi
  Where Limestone County Confederate veterans gathered each summer from 1888, later a water supplier in the Mexia oil boom, now a Texas Historical Commission site on the Navasota River.
• Fort Boggy State Park — 28 mi
  A 1,847-acre park in Leon County named for a settlers' palisade of 1840, with a 15-acre lake, short trails and the story of Tennessee farmers, the Keechi and a Ranger captain.

More markers nearby

• Site of Old Potter's Shop — 1.4 mi
• Ebenezer Baptist Church and Cemetery — 8.1 mi
• Bald Prairie Church of Christ — 9.6 mi
• Bald Prairie Cemetery — 9.7 mi