TIDEHAVEN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

November 1994 - Issue #26

The roots of the Tidehaven Consolidation Independent School District lie in the early school districts of Ashby, Midfield, El Maton, Blessing, Buckeye, Clemville, and Markham. Without the merging of these districts in 1948, there probably would have never been a Tidehaven Independent School District.

By 1869 the community of Ashby on Wilson Creek had churches, but school was taught in private homes with students sitting on boxes. The town began in 1890 when Captain W. W. Moore established a store and became postmaster from 1890 until 1902. In 1911 a schoolhouse was built sixty yards from the present FM 1095. A teacherage was also built at the entrance to the road which leads to the Ashby Cemetery. It now serves as the home of the Vavra family. This school was used until the consolidation of the Tidehaven School District. The old building was sold to Frank Kacer, who moved it to Hawley Cemetery road for use as a barn. As early as 1908 school was held in a one-room building in the country about one and one-half miles east of Midfield, but the first school in Midfield was held during the term 1909-1910. Both terms were taught by Knox M. Aiken. In 1911 a fine, two-room schoolhouse was erected. The inadequate building was later enlarged to four classrooms with an auditorium on the second floor. Fire destroyed this building in 1929 and another building was built in 1930. It is no longer used.

El Maton dates back to 1905 and became an official town in 1915. The El Maton National Hall was moved to its present site on FM 1095 from Buckeye Road. It was used as a school for many years and later as a recreational center. In 1917 the El Maton school taught eight grades.

A school community in the Buckeye area was organized in 1905 with a scholastic enrollment of thirty-five. The one room schoolhouse was donated by Plotner & Stoddard. In 1913 an election was held for issuing of bonds for a new schoolhouse, and five acres north of the Buckeye townsite were selected for the site. The first floor of the two-story building was used for classes and the second for church and community affairs. In later years the Buckeye School District was incorporated into the Markham ISD.

From 1911 to 1970 Clemville had a post office and a school until Clemville consolidated with Markham. Today students are bused to Markham Elementary School, the Tidehaven Intermediate, and the Senior High School at El Maton.

The first school in Markham was a two-story wooden building. This one was replaced in 1935 by the present structure, which has had several additions. Black students attended classes in a building at D and Tenth Street and later at the Jefferson School in El Maton. Desegregation in 1965 ended the use of Jefferson as a Negro building. It is now the Tidehaven Intermediate. Students from the Danevang area also attended Markham schools. The school buildings in Buckeye and Northern Headquarters were moved and placed behind the Markham school. Buckeye’s school building was purchased by the Markham Methodist Church, torn down, and the lumber was used to enlarge the church.

Classes were taught in Blessing as early as 1905, even before the townsite was platted in 1907. The Blessing Masonic Lodge Hall, built in 1873, was moved from the Deming’s Bridge area to Blessing. The first floor served as Blessing’s first school.

George K. Nelson began his tenure as principal-teacher in the Blessing Elementary School. In March of 1942, George was elected superintendent of the Blessing district. He remained in that position through the consolidation of the Blessing, Midfield, and Ashby school districts and also the consolidation of Blessing and Markham school districts in 1948, which formed the present Tidehaven Independent School District.

When the school boards of the old Blessing and Markham Independent School Districts met in 1948 to discuss plans for providing better educational facilities for their sparse and widely scattered Negro scholastics, plans were finalized for the consolidation of the whole area. After the plans were submitted to the voters, the proposal was approved by a five to one landslide at the polls, thereby creating the new Tidehaven ISD.

Its opening in the fall of 1950 heralded a long step in the educational facilities of Matagorda County. At this time, its area of 293 square miles made the district one of the largest and wealthiest in Texas, it was situated centrally in the county in an area developing both agriculturally and industrially. Oil fields were in close proximity. George K. Nelson became the first superintendent and Alfred Hansen was the business manager.

The school district now extends from the Slone Ranch on the extreme southwest side, just back of the Palacios Airport, to within four miles of the ghost town of Magnet at the point where the Colorado River and the Wharton and Matagorda County lines meet. It is bounded on the north by the Wharton County line, on the west by the Jackson County line, on the east by the Colorado River, and on the south by portions of the Tres Palacios River.

Three state highways pass through portions of the school district: State Highway 71 from north to south, State Highway 35 from east to west to south, and State Highway 111 from the west. In addition, there are numerous state farm-to-market roads and county roads in the district, as well as some private roads of oil companies. The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Missouri Pacific Rail Lines pass through the District.

The school district’s name derived from the port and old settlement of Tidehaven that lies within the school district. In 1903 the town of Tidehaven had a population of from fifty to one hundred. The railroad and port facilities contributed to its development. The site is located one mile south of Hawley Cemetery off FM 459. Its name is derived from the tidewaters which come up the Tres Palacios River from Tres Palacios Bay. In 1856 the government established the Tres Palacios post office on the same site as Tidehaven. The town’s name then became Tres Palacios and remained so until the post office was discontinued in August of 1904.

Tidehaven is now considered a part of the nearby town of El Maton. Today, instead of attending school in inadequate buildings, with few students in their classes, they are housed in modern, well-equipped buildings. There is an adequate transportation system, and all students are participating in a program that is seeking to expand its opportunities for all youth.

The picture for the future existence and continuous growth of a school for the rural children of this area remains brighter every year. With the continued good will and cooperation of the people with the board of education, the teachers, and the administration, the picture has become brighter as plans have materialized for programs of continuous educational improvement and campus growth.