The Save Central School Committee is a community organization dedicated to help the community of Smithville establish a multi-purpose community center in the historic Central School. Once the building is purchased and renovated, it will become home to a community health clinic, a theater and gallery space for local and imported talent, a garden and outdoor recreation space, a technology and computer learning and service center, and an education center equipped to provide conventional lecturing space as well as state-of-the-art virtual classrooms. Thus, its original purpose—“morality, charity, education”—will be renewed; indeed, this effort will establish a model for preservation that could be used throughout rural America.
Meetings are open to the public and are generally held every third Saturday at 3:30 PM at the Smithville Recreation Center. Please contact the Rec Center (512 237 3282 x 7) for confirmation of the meetings, or contact Jill Strube to be added to the contact list to receive agendas and minutes of these meetings. Thanks to all for your interest in this important asset to our community!
Smithville’s Central School and Block 16 have a history as long as the City itself. City founders recognized the value of education early on, and private voluntary contributions for education began in the Mid 1800s at the bank of the Colorado River. By 1887, Block 16 was established for use as a place of education and in the following year, the Masons, an integral group in the history of educational institutions in Texas, added a second story to an existing frame building to use as their lodge; the lower level served as the school while the Masons used the upstairs rooms. The City of Smithville incorporated in 1895. Although a general bond intended to provide free public education was defeated that year, the City bought Block 16 and the Masonic Lodge built an “L”-shaped frame building for 328 enrolled students. The Deed required that the land and buildings must “be used only for Educational Purposes and for the purposes of inculcating and practicing the principles of morality and charity,” stipulating that conveyance of the property would be null and void if the “land or buildings standing thereon be used for any other purpose.” In 1903, the Deed was conveyed to the Smithville Independent School District (SISD) for $1 and in 1907/08 the orange brick “Central School” was built for $25,000. Although the Deed retained the clause requiring that the land and buildings be used solely for educational purposes, it did not include a revocation clause for inappropriate use. Initially, all grades and all white, city-dwelling students attended Central School. In 1924, the community had grown so large that the Red Brick School was built as the area’s high school. In 1965, the senior class of Smithville became integrated at Central School, and in 1966, full integration of all schools was in effect. In 1980, grades K-3 Central School students were moved to Mary A. Brown School, south of the railway yard, and grades 4-6 were moved to Sam Houston Junior High, which was demolished in 1986. In 1980, the Deed restrictions regarding use were removed, and at that time, an area non-profit, the Combined Community Action (CCA) rented the building to house its offices and run its Head-Start program, continuing to serve its original purpose of education, charity and morality. The CCA bought the School in 1987 and essentially continued to serve the original intent of the community founders, but the CCA sold Block 16 in 1997 effectively ending the building’s higher purpose and curtailing its role in shaping future generations. In the past decade, Central School has been bought and sold five times. The first of these, the Chandler Nicole Frost Trust, bought the School to provide a base of operations for the “Hope Floats” movie crew in 1997. Afterward, it became the home of various vendors, and was used for commercially marketing and auctioning old, antique furniture and home decorating items. Programs planned for Central School would fill the gaps in the civic heartbeat of the community. Making it publicly and culturally accessible to all socioeconomic levels and age groups will bring it back into the central life of the city.