The
following information on the history of Dripping Springs and DSISD is
courtesy of Carl Waits, retired DSISD educator and author of
The Complete History of Dripping Springs Texas and the P.A. Smith
Survey
published by Eakin Publishing in Austin, Texas
Dripping Springs got its official start in early 1854, when three families would purchase land here and make their frontier homes. They were Dr. and Mrs. Joseph McKegg Pound, Mr. and Mrs. John Lee Wallace and daughter, Carrie, and Mr. and Mrs. John Lauter Moss and son, Joseph. Dripping Springs got its official name in June, 1857, when John Moss was named the first postmaster and his wife, Nannie, put the name on the application.
Although there were a few stores and other businesses scattered about over the years, the town of Dripping Springs would be born in September, 1881, when W.T. Chapman would file a twelve-block plat with the county to establish it. He would later add five more additions. The town immediately began to be settled with people and businesses. This included a hotel, mercantile stores, blacksmith shops, livery stable and gins. Dripping Springs continued to prosper as a rural community for about a century. Most of the income came from farming and ranching. The businesses continued to reflect the sign of the times as the mode of transportation changed. It was garages instead of blacksmith shops, gas stations in lieu of livery stables and cafes. The coming of electricity in the late 1930's made other changes possible as well.
Growth precluded other changes. One of those was the city government. Dripping Springs had no official government until 1981 when Austin's presence caused a vote for incorporation. It passed and Dripping Springs had a city government that included a mayor and council. Growth into the 2000's continue to distort the community's face and soon it will be unrecognizable to those who knew it when.
Landmarks around include
Dr. J.M. Pound house (1855), now museum;
Wallace Mt. Cemetery (1880's);
Phillips Cemetery (1880);
Dr. Harrison's house (1883), now Joannie Crosswell's;
George Dickey house (1887), now Anton Allen's;
A.L. Davis, Jr. mercantile store (1891), now Purcell Electric
J. L. Patterson mercantile store (1906), now Anton Allen's.
School History
Education has always been in the forefront of Dripping Springs history. In
the early 1860's, when some of the children reached school age, Dr. Pound
hired a private tutor for them. The Civil War cut short this opportunity.
After the war and during the Reconstruction Era, school was conducted for
three to four months each year by U.S. soldiers. Regular schools came back
after the end of the Reconstruction period and the people of Dripping Springs
built a small one-room building, just east of the present site of the Masonic
Lodge.
In December, 1876, Hays County established school district #10 and the students continued to have school in the one-room building until 1881. In 1881, Dr. Jordan, a Baptist preacher and teacher, talked the people of Dripping Springs into establishing the Dripping Springs Academy, a boarding school. The one-story, two-room building was completed in early 1882. The school was a combination of tuition and free school. It was still a part of District 10.
In 1891, the citizens of the school district voted to take advantage of a school tax and the new district was numbered #20. The building and the land was owned by the Baptist Church from the mid-1880's and they had thought they had turned the property over to the public school system in 1905 but no deed had changed hands. Finally in 1921-22, when the second story was added, the property was turned over.
Starting in 1934, consolidation of schools began and Dripping Springs was
designated a Rural High School. Growth caused the district to build a high
school addition in 1939. The four-room edifice was named the Allen Stephenson
High School and is presently the site of the county offices behind the post
office. In 1949, a new school campus was built about a half-mile west of the
Academy. It would accommodate all twelve grades. In 1952, the old two-story,
Dripping Springs Academy was sold to the Masons and they have owned it since.
The
status of the Dripping Springs school district changed in 1951, when the Rural
designation, under the County School System, was changed to Dripping Springs
Independent School District by a vote of the people. Growth caused overcrowding
and many additions to the campus was made to keep pace. In 1972, an elementary
school was established in the Lake Travis area. A split in the district between
Lake Travis and Dripping Springs in 1981 slowed the need for a new plant for
a few years. In 1985, high school students moved into their new campus and
1987, grades K-5 moved into their new campus as well. The old campus housed
the Middle School until they moved to their present campus in 1995. An
Intermediate School was established at the old campus until they would get
their own campus in 1999. At the same time, a couple of wings were being added
to the High School campus. The old campus had been converted into Administrative
offices for the District.
