Mount Carmel School
Mount Carmel School #15
Asa Walker
CR 534
Desert, Texas
The Mt. Carmel School was listed as District # 15 and was located on CR 534. It was also called the Mt. Carmel County Line School or the Asa Walker County Line School #15. The school was a Collin County school but had students attending from Collin, Fannin, and Grayson Counties. It was also called the Desert School. The Mt. Carmel Cemetery is in the area.
In 1880 it was said that Mt. Carmel School was “situated in the northeast part of the county on Pilot Grove creek, fine farming lands, thickly settled; timber and prairie, teacher, P. C. Hudson, a young man of rare attainments; holds a first-grade certificate. This is his second year at the school.”
In 1890 the school had 46 students and 27 in 1900. There were 6 black students in the district in 1900, who were transferred to a colored school. In 1901 the teacher was Miss Clara Richards of Desert. In 1909 Mt. Carmel had 31 male students and 41 female students and in 1912 it had 56 students.
A January 28, 1915 edition of the McKinney Weekly Democrat Gazette stated that the County Superintendent W. E. Foster had visited Cross Roads and Desert Schools. There was a meeting held at Cross Roads Church, about half way between the Cross Roads and Desert School buildings, by patrons of both districts for the purpose of considering consolidation of the two schools and forming a rural high school.
Desert and Crossroads was used equally in referring to the Desert area and to the school and stores and churches. At one time there were separate schools for Desert/Mt Carmel and Crossroads, but they were united into the Asa Walker School District by an act recorded in a 1917 Journal of the Texas House of Representatives. An act was passed to authorize and empower the Asa Walker County Line School District #15, in Collin, Grayson, and Fannin Counties (Texas) to hold an election for the purpose of merging two or more schools into one school district (the Asa Walker School District).
In 1918 the County Superintendent of Schools said this about the Asa Walker School #15:
“The Asa Walker School district was formed by consolidating the small districts around it. That the work was wisely done is shown by the new school that they have at this site now. The house has four class rooms-and auditorium which is used for the music teacher. The school has a large plat of ground well located and the future of this school is proud. They have enrolled 120. Among them are many of the larger boys and girls of the community. This seems to be the rule where the districts have been consolidated throughout the county and the attendance is as good on the average even among the small children as it is in the smaller districts. Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Miles, Miss Maggie Caylor and Miss Ethel Wallace are the teachers of this progressive school.”
The Desert Crossroads school was located across SH 78 from the Crossroads Cemetery and slightly to the south and east. The school operated until 1955 and went through the eighth grade. Students were sent to Trenton, Blue Ridge, Whitewright or Westminster for secondary school. When the school was closed, women used the building for sewing and quilt making.
Asa Walker
CR 534
Desert, Texas
The Mt. Carmel School was listed as District # 15 and was located on CR 534. It was also called the Mt. Carmel County Line School or the Asa Walker County Line School #15. The school was a Collin County school but had students attending from Collin, Fannin, and Grayson Counties. It was also called the Desert School. The Mt. Carmel Cemetery is in the area.
In 1880 it was said that Mt. Carmel School was “situated in the northeast part of the county on Pilot Grove creek, fine farming lands, thickly settled; timber and prairie, teacher, P. C. Hudson, a young man of rare attainments; holds a first-grade certificate. This is his second year at the school.”
In 1890 the school had 46 students and 27 in 1900. There were 6 black students in the district in 1900, who were transferred to a colored school. In 1901 the teacher was Miss Clara Richards of Desert. In 1909 Mt. Carmel had 31 male students and 41 female students and in 1912 it had 56 students.
A January 28, 1915 edition of the McKinney Weekly Democrat Gazette stated that the County Superintendent W. E. Foster had visited Cross Roads and Desert Schools. There was a meeting held at Cross Roads Church, about half way between the Cross Roads and Desert School buildings, by patrons of both districts for the purpose of considering consolidation of the two schools and forming a rural high school.
Desert and Crossroads was used equally in referring to the Desert area and to the school and stores and churches. At one time there were separate schools for Desert/Mt Carmel and Crossroads, but they were united into the Asa Walker School District by an act recorded in a 1917 Journal of the Texas House of Representatives. An act was passed to authorize and empower the Asa Walker County Line School District #15, in Collin, Grayson, and Fannin Counties (Texas) to hold an election for the purpose of merging two or more schools into one school district (the Asa Walker School District).
In 1918 the County Superintendent of Schools said this about the Asa Walker School #15:
“The Asa Walker School district was formed by consolidating the small districts around it. That the work was wisely done is shown by the new school that they have at this site now. The house has four class rooms-and auditorium which is used for the music teacher. The school has a large plat of ground well located and the future of this school is proud. They have enrolled 120. Among them are many of the larger boys and girls of the community. This seems to be the rule where the districts have been consolidated throughout the county and the attendance is as good on the average even among the small children as it is in the smaller districts. Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Miles, Miss Maggie Caylor and Miss Ethel Wallace are the teachers of this progressive school.”
The Desert Crossroads school was located across SH 78 from the Crossroads Cemetery and slightly to the south and east. The school operated until 1955 and went through the eighth grade. Students were sent to Trenton, Blue Ridge, Whitewright or Westminster for secondary school. When the school was closed, women used the building for sewing and quilt making.
