Masonic Home Independent School District
| Masonic Home Independent School District | |
|---|---|
Map of Tarrant County with incorporated areas of Fort Worth highlighted
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3600 Wichita Street, Fort Worth, Texas United States |
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| Coordinates | 32°42′32″N 97°16′46″W / 32.70889°N 97.27944°WCoordinates: 32°42′32″N 97°16′46″W / 32.70889°N 97.27944°W |
| District information | |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Established | 1913 |
| Closed | 2005 (dissolved) |
| Other information | |
| Merged into | Fort Worth ISD |
| Notes | School district for orphans, of notable historical interest |
| Website | Masonic Home and School of Texas - History |
The Masonic Home and School of Texas was a home for widows and orphans in what is now Fort Worth, Texas from 1889 to 2005. The first superintendent was Dr. Frank Rainey of Austin, Texas. Starting in 1913, it had its own school system, the Masonic Home Independent School District.
The campus included buildings designed by architects Wiley G. Clarkson of Fort Worth and Herbert M. Greene of Dallas, and it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 1992.
In 1889, the Masons opened a home for widows and orphans of Masons. Later, widows moved to a location in nearby Arlington (closed nearly a century later during the construction of Cowboys Stadium) and the home was opened to non-Masonic orphans. On January 10, 1913, under laws passed in 1905 allowing orphanages to organize their own schools, the Texas State Board of Education created the Masonic Home Independent School District.
Its 1930s football teams are the subject a 2007 book by Jim Dent, Twelve Mighty Orphans. In 1995, the Masonic Home won the Class 1A State Football Championship in Groesbeck, Tx. under the coaches Tom Hines & Arthur (Buster) Bone, also an ex-student.
The school closed in 2005 due to lack of funding. The school district merged with the Fort Worth Independent School District and the buildings and grounds were sold to a private developer. The school's chapel is now a private facility known as the Bell Tower Chapel, a popular wedding location.
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