Frankford School
Frankford School #58
Muirfield Drive
Dallas, Texas
The following information was received from Marianne Wells who had documents about the school. She gave permission to use the information for the Historical Assets Survey.
The history of the school at Frankford is intertwined with that of the White Rock Masonic Lodge. In 1858 the lodge was chartered at Walnut Grove, Dallas County, north of present-day Addison near the Dallas-Collin County line. In 1872 the lodge received permission from the Grand Lodge to move to a new location nearby which was just over the Collin County line. The new lodge building was located at what is now the front (west end) of present-day Frankford Cemetery.
The Masonic Lodge building at Frankford was known as The Hall. It was a typical early-day Masonic hall, a two-story wood-frame building with stairs leading up from the outside. The masons met on the top floor. The first floor was reserved for school and religious purposes and open to all denominations, with the Methodists predominating. M. H. Alexander and his wife Ettie Smith were the first school teachers at Frankford, starting in either 1872, when the lodge was built, or 1873, when the lodge bought land from them (2 acres) and W. C. McKamy (5 acres) for church and school purposes. A Carrollton resident, interviewed in 1958, remembered attending the school with his future sister-in-law when the Alexanders were teaching in 1870s and that there were about 75 students. By 1880, when J. S. Allen was the schoolmaster, the county was providing funds to over 100 schools. Frankford received $84.95 that year with neighbors supplementing with money, wood for heating, and repair work for the building. W. P. Bishop, who had previously taught at a school in Grapevine, was another teacher at Frankford. He was a state representative from 1885-1887, so we assume that his days as the Frankford schoolmaster were before that. In 1907 the Grand Lodge gave the White Rock Lodge permission to move the hall building to Noel Junction, present-day Addison, on the Cotton Belt Railroad. We do not know when the last session was held, but by 1900 communities were starting their own public schools, so enrollment would have dwindled as did the little community of Frankford.
Muirfield Drive
Dallas, Texas
The following information was received from Marianne Wells who had documents about the school. She gave permission to use the information for the Historical Assets Survey.
The history of the school at Frankford is intertwined with that of the White Rock Masonic Lodge. In 1858 the lodge was chartered at Walnut Grove, Dallas County, north of present-day Addison near the Dallas-Collin County line. In 1872 the lodge received permission from the Grand Lodge to move to a new location nearby which was just over the Collin County line. The new lodge building was located at what is now the front (west end) of present-day Frankford Cemetery.
The Masonic Lodge building at Frankford was known as The Hall. It was a typical early-day Masonic hall, a two-story wood-frame building with stairs leading up from the outside. The masons met on the top floor. The first floor was reserved for school and religious purposes and open to all denominations, with the Methodists predominating. M. H. Alexander and his wife Ettie Smith were the first school teachers at Frankford, starting in either 1872, when the lodge was built, or 1873, when the lodge bought land from them (2 acres) and W. C. McKamy (5 acres) for church and school purposes. A Carrollton resident, interviewed in 1958, remembered attending the school with his future sister-in-law when the Alexanders were teaching in 1870s and that there were about 75 students. By 1880, when J. S. Allen was the schoolmaster, the county was providing funds to over 100 schools. Frankford received $84.95 that year with neighbors supplementing with money, wood for heating, and repair work for the building. W. P. Bishop, who had previously taught at a school in Grapevine, was another teacher at Frankford. He was a state representative from 1885-1887, so we assume that his days as the Frankford schoolmaster were before that. In 1907 the Grand Lodge gave the White Rock Lodge permission to move the hall building to Noel Junction, present-day Addison, on the Cotton Belt Railroad. We do not know when the last session was held, but by 1900 communities were starting their own public schools, so enrollment would have dwindled as did the little community of Frankford.
