Lone Star History

Prior to 1920, the schools in the area were one-room schoolhouses teaching the primary grades with only a few local students. As the community had been steadily growing, residents began to feel the need for higher learning and a high school was started.  Beginning in September, the first two years of high school were taught in the Olhausen’s living room as there was not room in the one-room school house for the high school.  A new three-room school building had been started that fall, but was not completed until sometime in November.

The principal of this new high school was a Miss Ruth Thaxton who suggested it be named Lone Star after her home state of Texas.  In 1923, Lone Star School District and the surrounding districts voted to consolidate and teach all four years of high school.  Lone Star became an accredited high school in the Washington County High School System. The three-room building was moved to Lone Star’s current sight with two of the rooms being used for high school.

 In this same year, voting passed to build a dedicated high school building on the same site. Lone Star’s first graduating class would do so in the new building.

 As the years passed two more consolidations occurred making a total of eleven schools having joined Lone Star School District. In 1960, a new larger building capable of housing all twelve grades was built. It wasn’t finished until rather late and was dedicated on Sunday, November 13, 1960. As a result, the class of 1960 (May) was the last class to graduate in the old,1923, high school building.

 After only 15 months, the new building burned down due to a boiler malfunction or explosion on January 10. 1962. The class of 1961 was the only class to have graduated from the new building and they had not even attended classes in the building for a full year.

The community voted to rebuild the school on the same foundation with existing floor plan, however, they did make a few changes and improvements.

Lone Star continues to occupy this very building today, with a number of additions and more improvements having been made in the years since 1962. This is the building as it stands today and still functions as the center of the Lone Star community.

Lone Star is a tight-knit, caring, and supportive community with each student and alumnus dedicated to achieving excellence and feeling their Longhorn Pride to the core.

Page content by: Gabrielle Blom, Lillian Guinn, and Juan Hermosillo.