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The Richland School was created as a means to educate the children of the Richland community in northern Travis County. During the 1860s, many Germans settled the area and began farming. An early immigrant, Franz Schmidt, took an interest in providing community-wide education. He offered up his home, known as “Brushy Knob,” as a place for children to learn. As the need for education grew, Schmidt donated one acre of his property for a school. In the late 1870s, a local committee was formed which submitted that the school be named “Richland,” in reference to the area’s rich Blackland soil. In 1878, a one-room schoolhouse was built. The first teacher was Catharine Schlittler, who was followed by several German-speaking minister/teachers. Unhappy with part-time instructors lecturing in German, the community applied to the state to supply funds for a full-time, English-speaking teacher. This request was granted around the same time the school was expanded. In 1883, a larger schoolhouse was built over the site of the original building. In 1905, the community voted to expand the schoolhouse and bring in another teacher. A separate room was built in 1920 to house primary grades. In 1927, the community voted to once again improve the school grounds by constructing a modern, three-room schoolhouse. The original 1883 building was moved off site, the 1905 addition demolished, and the 1920 structure converted into a club house. In 1936, Travis County officials decided that smaller, community schools should be consolidated at Pflugerville; however, Richland School avoided consolidation until 1945, when it was absorbed by Pflugerville ISD. At the time of its closing, the school had nine grades, three classrooms, and three teachers. The school buildings were all moved off-site and repurposed. (2016) |
