Baxter School - Baxter, TX - Former Schools on Waymarking.com

Very similar to what you find on the school's website, a good ol' fashioned paper flyer is on display on the school's door, and it provides some good reading for those of us who stop to visit:

Baxter Common School District #2

As near as can be determined, school was started at this location in 1907. The Pilgrim's Rest school, located on CR 4511 about one mile south of the old Baxter store on US 175E and on a knoll about 150 yards west of the road, was closed in about 1905. At that time the students came to Baxter with school being held in the new W.O.W. building.

Willie E. Johnson and wife deeded one acre of land on 3-20-07 to the W.O.W. chapter and a two story frame building was erected at this site. This one acre is the front part of the present building with the building located about 100 feet NE of our present building's NE corner in front of the still existing water well. The building served as lodge, church, and school. A Methodist church was built on the north side of the one acre and school was conducted there until the building was destroyed by a storm in 1914.

On 90-13-1915, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson deeded another one acre directly behind the first acre and at that time the present building was completed. The cornerstone, still existing in 2008, is dated 10-10-15 and was laid by Camp #1408 of the W.O.W. School trustees were Joe Taylor, T.N. Harrison, and A.F. Schumacher. This building was the second brick school in the county. Athens being two years earlier. After the Spring session of 1943, Baxter School District, which included the Gum Creek School for Coloreds, was consolidated with the Athens School District. Building and land became property of AISD. The building was used by the community as various purposes including quilting bees, family get-togethers and the McRuiz and Knox families lived here for several years.

On 1-29-1951, the property was sold by the AISD to the Baxter Home Demonstration Club for $475.00. Club trustees were Mrs. F.L. Neely, Mrs. Gene Goodman, and Mrs. J.L. Smith. It was used by the Club for a number of years, but, as interests and needs dwindled, the building gradually came into disrepair.

In the 1970s, thanks to the concerns of Tim Forester, Buck Cure, Jack Little, John Brown, and others, general repairs were made and the annual Baxter Homecoming started being held here and continues so.

On 4-08-1997, the property was deeded to the Baxter Community Center for community uses. Several families, both black and white, have family reunions here, and the building is used for other general purposes. A small fee is charged to off-set utilities. All maintenance and upkeep are supported by volunteer labor and donations.

The old Baxter School building has served the community in an enduring manner for nearly a century. At the height of enrollment during the early 1920s, nearly 200 students were educated in these four rooms each class year. So long as the building can be maintained, it will continue to be a place of beautiful times and memories. It has served the community well.

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"W.O.W." refers to the Woodmen of the World, a fraternal organization whose tree trunk grave markers are fairly common in many areas of the United States. They organized themselves into "camps" (lodges), and it was common practice for them to share a building with others.

Address: 6471 FM 804 Baxter (Larue), TX USA 75770 Web Site: [Web Link]

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