Celebrating six decades of service, St. Stehen’s builds on tra­dition for the 21^st Century.

One can only imagine the impression the scene would have made on a wan­dering cedar chopper or a fence-riding cowhand from nearby Davenport Ranch.

It was a bleak, wintry St. Stephen’s Day, Dec. 26, 1949, in the sparsely pop­u­lated Hill Country west of the state capital. A pilgrim caravan pulled up at a remote plateau, and from the cars issued a stream of ladies in calf-length coats and furs, gen­tlemen in suits and wool over­coats, and clergy in bright vestments.

That mem­o­rable afternoon the group wit­nessed a ground-breaking cer­emony in which Bishop John E. Hines, head­master William Brewster, Trustees, and other par­tic­i­pants turned spadefuls of rocky soil on a spot that would come to be known simply as the “Hill.” Biting winds did not cool the enthu­siasm of Hines, Brewster, the Trustees, their fam­ilies, and other ded­i­cated folk, who saw their dream of an Episcopal school in Central Texas finally realized.

“This is a happy day for all of us,” the Rev. Brewster said. “We promise to ded­icate our­selves to edu­cation that con­cerns the whole person: body, mind and spirit.”

Hines was also touched by the expe­rience. He later wrote in his diary: “St. Stephen’s Day. Broke ground for St. Stephen’s Episcopal School. The sun came out just as the ground was being turned … sym­bolic, we all hope of the warmth and light which a Christian school is des­tined to create for the whole Southwest.”

On Oct. 23, 1999, St. Stephen’s, a coed­u­ca­tional boarding and day school, com­mem­o­rated the 50^th anniversary of its ground breaking in a cer­emony on campus attended by alumni, parents, Trustees, and other friends. Although much has changed since its founding, the school remains true to its origins.

400 ACRES AND A BISHOP

Following World War II, many Texas Episcopal fam­ilies expressed interest in a top-quality boarding school closer to home. A ques­tion­naire sent to con­gre­ga­tions in 1947 showed 63 children attending boarding school outside the diocese.

The Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, then Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Texas, and later Bishop of the Diocese and Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, launched a cam­paign to create an Episcopal boarding school that would provide a rig­orous aca­demic and moral edu­cation for the children of fam­ilies in towns and ranches across the state.

The school site 8 miles from Austin was chosen because of its prox­imity to the University of Texas and the seat of state gov­ernment, as well as its remoteness from the cor­ruption of city life. A look at vintage photos reveals the wilderness quality of the sparsely pop­u­lated Hill Country location in the early years.

When the founders pur­chased the 400-acre tract, they took on the daily struggle of living in a no-frills rural setting. Their neighbors were goats, cattle, and a variety of critters. Water was pumped from a 1,017-foot well. The only tele­phone was a mobile unit in an old car. When incoming calls caused the horn to honk, someone had to go outside to the car to answer.

The school’s original buildings blended south­western ranch and mid-century mod­ernist design. The native stone chapel, unadorned save for a huge timber cross hanging over the altar, exem­plifies the school’s archi­tec­tural esthetic, which is meant to merge the campus with the natural setting. The chapel, at the center of campus, sym­bolizes the place of Christian spir­i­tu­ality in the life of the St. Stephen’s community.

The scenic Hill Country and its unique flora and fauna con­tinue to frame the daily expe­rience at St. Stephen’s. Although urban sprawl has brought several neigh­bor­hoods to the perimeter, the campus still offers hun­dreds of acres with hike-and-bike trails, as well as access to streams and the Colorado River along the school’s western boundary.