The Junction School

The education of the future president began here.

NPS Photo / Jack Burton

Quick Facts

Location:

LBJ Ranch, Stonewall, Texas

Amenities

5 listed

Benches/Seating, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Trash/Litter Receptacles, Wheelchair Accessible

The one-room school was very important to the rural people living in Gillespie County. Here, near their homes, the children learned the "3Rs"—reading, writing, and arithmetic—enabling many of them to go on to high school and college. The schools were located close enough to children's homes to allow to them to walk to school. There were 31 one-room schools located in Gillespie County.

The Junction School was a typical one-room school. A wood stove sat in a sand box in the center of the school and was the only source of heat. Two kerosene lamps suspended from the ceiling at opposite ends of the room provided light. The teacher's desk and a chair were in front of the classroom. A small brass bell on the teacher's desk summoned the students. Students sat at double desks which had wooden tops with holes for the glass inkwells. The desks were arranged in rows facing the teacher's desk; the boys in one row and the girls in another.

The Junction School opened on November 21, 1910 and served the area for 37 years. In the spring of 1947 the school became part of the Stonewall Consolidated School District. With this move, the Junction School closed and its students attended the nearby Stonewall School. In 1972 the National Park Foundation purchased the land to become part of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park.