Behrens School Road

Various flowers in the foreground, a barbed wire fence, and a pasture beyond covered in red and yellow flowers. The scene of the pasture is "framed" by trees located along the fenceline.

May 25, 2024

This is the first in a series of posts about our explorations in the Texas Hill Country in late May 2024.

Behrens School Road may be the most beautiful road that we have explored to date. It runs between U.S. 87 and Ranch Road 386 in Mason County, a few miles north of Mason, Texas. The road is short, but we took our time driving it to admire the scenery.

Henry Julius Behrens and his neighbors established a primary school near the intersection of Behrens School Road and RR 386 in the early 1880s. Upon graduation, students could attend high school in nearby Mason. The Behrens School was consolidated with the Mason School in 1945. The building no longer exists, but The Portal to Texas History has a photo on file.

One of the teachers was Stella Gipson Polk, the sister of Fred Gipson, the author of Old Yeller.

Behrens School was sometimes referred to as the “Jackass School” because many of the students rode to school on donkeys, mules, and horses.

Route: Behrens School Road

The main reason we thought this route was so beautiful was because of the flowers. This region does not always get much rain, but when it does, the local flora take full advantage and start blooming like crazy. Much of the area seemed to be in a second spring season, except the temperature was more like late summer!

The route was not particularly interesting at the start, but very soon, the scenery changed in spectacular fashion.

A dirt road runs a way into the distance, then curves out of sight to the left.
Behrens School Road near the U.S. 87 intersection.
A pasture filled with yellow flowers.
This was the first flower-covered pasture along the route.

We came upon the pasture above a short distance from the start of the road. From that point forward, the flowers did not stop!

A large patch of red Indian blanket flowers.
Indian blanket flowers in a pasture.
Various flowers in the foreground, a barbed wire fence, and a pasture beyond covered in red and yellow flowers. The scene of the pasture is "framed" by trees located along the fenceline.
It’s like a framed picture!
Another pasture, but larger than the previous. It is covered in red and yellow flowers.

Behrens School Road crosses the eastern fork of Comanche Creek, offering a beautiful view of the Comanche Creek valley. The haze is mostly smoke from agricultural fires coming up from Mexico and other parts of Central America.

A dirt road falls and rises as it passes through a small valley.
Looking across the East Comanche Creek valley.
Prickly pear cacti growing on the side of a road cutting.
Prickly pear cactus.
A few bluebonnets.
There were a few late-season bluebonnets blooming.
A dirt road extends into the distance. Its far point is obscured by a tree.

Behrens School Road crosses Old Mason Road, which is the topic of another post.

An old house sits far behind a gate. The house has a rusted metal roof and a stone chimney.
This house appeared abandoned.
A blooming yucca stands along a fence line.
A yucca in bloom.
Many yellow flowers cover the roadside and continue beyond a barbed wire fence located at the top of an embankment.
Sunflowers in the foreground, with a group of live oak trees in a pasture beyond.
Sunflowers!

We reached the end of the road and stopped to take a few pictures before heading back toward Old Mason Road. As mentioned above, the school is long gone. The Behrens family cemetery is located a little north of the site, off of RR 386, but we did not visit it.

Imagine, for a moment, what it must have been like to ride into school on a donkey in the late 1800s. The journey may have been several miles long, and the country was probably much wilder then. The scenery was beautiful, but the weather was not always nice. But who knew any different? They didn’t have the luxuries we have today, like a little air-conditioned 4×4 pickup, so they didn’t know what they were missing. ☺️

The corner of a small pasture covered in red and yellow flowers, with a paved road beyond, and a green pasture on a hillside on the other side of the road. The top of the hill is covered in trees.
End of the road. Ranch Road 386 is visible on the other side of the flower-covered pasture.
Flowers and a fence line along a dirt road.
Looking back along Behrens School Road near its intersection with RR 386.
Small butterflies "drinking" from mud in a ditch.
Butterflies drinking from the mud at the intersection of Behrens School Road and Old Mason Road.

Old Mason Road crosses Behrens School Road about a mile from RR 386. The picture of the butterflies, above, was taken in a ditch at the intersection. Our journey along Old Mason Road is covered in the next post.

3 comments

  2. I remember a guy with the surname Behrens that was at A&M when I was there. I bet he is connected to this Behrens family.

    Reply

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