The Morris Ranch Schoolhouse is a

ranch school A ranch school is a type of school used in rural areas of the Western United States. History The ranch school movement began in the Western United States in the early 1900s as a way to educate children who lived on ranches in remote and rural area ...

located on Morris Ranch Road, southwest of Fredericksburg in

Gillespie County Gillespie County is a County (United States), county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 26,725. The county seat is Fredericksburg, Texas, Fredericksburg ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1983, and was designated a

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the sta ...

in 1981. Designed by

Alfred Giles Alfred Giles may refer to: * Alfred Giles (architect) (1853–1920), Texas architect * Alfred Giles (civil engineer) (1816–1895), British civil engineer and politician * Alfred Giles (explorer) (1846–1931), South Australian bushman, drover and ...

, who also designed the 1882

Fredericksburg Memorial Library The Pioneer Memorial Library is located at 115 W. Main Street, Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. Designed by Alfred Giles, it was built in 1882 to replace the original 1855 courthouse, and was later superseded by the ...

, the schoolhouse was built in 1893. Winning thoroughbred trainer

Max Hirsch Maximilian Justice "Max" Hirsch (July 12, 1880 - April 3, 1969) was an American National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse horse trainer, trainer. Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, and raised Roman ...

began his career on Morris Ranch and attended classes in the schoolhouse.

Schoolhouse

The schoolhouse was originally part of the larger Morris Ranch, which was established in 1856 for horse breeding. After the ranch was converted into a thoroughbred horse breeding community, the schoolhouse was added to the property in 1893. The structure was built with a steeple and bell, doubling as a church. It was used by

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

congregations. As a youth while a trainer at the ranch,

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

thoroughbred trainer

attended both school and church at the schoolhouse. In 1931, the school on its separate was deeded to Gillespie County. The school belonged to Morris Ranch Consolidated Common School District no. 40. In 1962,

Fredericksburg Independent School District Fredericksburg Independent School District is a public school district based in Fredericksburg, Texas (USA). In addition to Fredericksburg, the district serves the unincorporated communities of Stonewall, Luckenbach, Willow City, and Albert. Lo ...

absorbed the Morris Ranch school district. The schoolhouse is currently under private ownership and not in use by the public.

Design

The 1893 schoolhouse was designed by

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

architect

in the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

style of native limestone. By the time of this project, Giles had already designed or remodeled San Antonio's old courthouse, the 1882 Gillespie County courthouse (now the Fredericksburg Memorial Library), the 1884 Wilson County Courthouse, the 1886 Presidio County Courthouse, and the 1886 Kerr County courthouse. He had also, by this point in his career, designed a number of historic homes in San Antonio. The one-story schoolhouse was designed in a

Cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

shape, an architectural style named for its resemblance to a cross. It rests on a foundation of ashlar limestone blocks, with smooth limestone block walls. Cornerstones at each corner project outward. The center section, which divides two east-west facing sections, has an entrance facing southward, with sharply inclined

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s higher than the other two wing sections of the house. The south section has a covered entrance way on its east side, and an identical covered entrance way on its west side. The middle center section is topped by a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

and served as a church and community gathering hall. The fronts of both the south and the west of the middle section each has two stone chimneys. The identical east and west gabled wings were reserved for the school classrooms. Window designs on the ends of all the gables were repeated triple windows topped by a singular rectangle opening. Indoor plumbing was installed in 1949.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris Ranch Schoolhouse Defunct schools in Gillespie County, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Gillespie County, Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Ranch schools

Schoolhouse

Design

See also

References

External links