Round Mountain School

Round Mountain School. . , In the early 1870s, the northwest Travis County community of Round Mountain expanded efforts to educate local children. A one-room log school was constructed in an area bounded by Long Hollow Creek and Big Sandy Creek. Teachers included Minnie Watson, Joshie (Casis) Hickman, Nonie Sullivan, J.D. Stephen, Rufus Smith and Billy Smith. In 1900, construction of a new school building was undertaken. The logs from the 1870s school building were sold, and J.R. and May J. Faubion deeded land to the trustees of the Round Mountain community for a new school site. The new one-room schoolhouse held facilities for one teacher instructing grades 1-8. Teachers during this time were Tom Barker, Daisey Dennis, Thelma Jones, Bessie Lohman, Bell Mcpherson, Birdie Mitcherson, and Julia Nelson. , In 1927, the 1900 schoolhouse burned. To rebuild, the community rallied funds and labor, and in 1929, the present school was opened. The 1929 schoolhouse featured a wood-burning stove, 6/6 windows, a cloak room and a closet. Teacher Easter Wade Whitt, who taught at Round Mountain from 1937-1942, remembers the community utilizing the site for Easter egg hunts, Christmas recitals, picnics and barbeques. In 1940, infrastructure developments to the facility occurred courtesy of the Works Progress Administration, including an additional outhouse and three drinking fountains with water piped from the well. The school trustees consolidated with the Leander school system, and Round Mountain school closed in 1945. The school site became the focus of an ownership dispute in the 1970s. Later, the building was used as a community center. , Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.