Hallettsville, Lavaca County
Located in the rural farming community of St. Mary's, the Brown School began when Benedict Brown deeded land in 1894 to Lavaca County for use as a public school. By the late 1800s, Lavaca County had 85 schools across the county, many small schools serving the children living nearby. Although small, these schools were very important to the German and Czechoslovakian immigrants and their commitment to education. The lumber for the one-room school was hauled from Flatonia, the nearest lumber mill. Rough benches served as seats and small slates as the students' blackboards. Water was carried in daily from a neighbor's farm. The length of the first schools were only three to five months, with curriculum covering reading, writing and arithmetic. First through fifth grades were taught by Mrs. Emma Stacey. In the fall of 1906, a new two-room school house was built and furnished with desks, a water well on site and new academic courses. In the 1920s, the Brown School expanded to eighth and ninth grades. Sports courts and a playground and new equipment in the library added to the enrichment of the students. In 1956 and 1957, the Brown School won the Lavaca County Rural School Fair, and achievement and testament to the school's academics. Students of the Brown School went on to become doctors, teachers, dentists, nurses and more. The school closed in June 1958 and consolidated with the Vysehrad school district. The Brown School and other rural schools of the late nineteenth century significantly contributed to the area's educational and cultural development. (2017)