Pleasant Grove School began its life as Cat Hollow School in the Cat Hollow community of Lake Travis in 1890. The Cat Hollow School lasted from 1890 to 1901 within a time range of 11 years. The school was rebuilt in 1891. Cat Hollow School was built as a wooden frame house serving as a one-room schoolhouse. Cat Hollow School taught 1st grade through 6th grade. The school did not educate students past 7th grade. Cat Hollow School was a K-6 school.
In 1901 is when the school was renamed to Pleasant Grove School and when the Cat Hollow School building was sold to a private homeowner. Travis County Public Schools operated the school before Pleasant Grove school prior to 1916 from 1890 to 1915.
Transportation to school was by wagon, horse, or just simply by foot. Many elementary school aged children traveled to school often by foot going to and from school. The school did not provide or offer transportation to students living out in the countryside.
By 1910 student enrollment stood at 30. 7th grade was added in the year of 1910 thus becoming a K-7 school. The Pleasant Grove School taught 1st grade through 7th grade. Students who wanted to continue education beyond the 7th grade would have to attend school in Bee Cave, Hamilton Pool, or Dripping Springs. Students who continued their education beyond the 7th grade attended Bee Cave School, Eanes School, Hamilton Pool School, or Dripping Springs School, or Dripping Springs High School.
The school building was deemed inadequate by Travis County Public Schools officials sometime during the early dawn of the 20th century. A new one needed to be built. Community leaders begged for a new schoolhouse to be built. However despite opposition from Travis County Public Schools officials, the Pleasant Grove School continued to operate until 1916.
1916 is the year when people from the Mud community built another schoolhouse. The Cat Hollow School was for $10 dollars in 1916. Lumber was hauled from wagons that came from Lake Travis community. Lumber was hauled out from Austin. The school building was completed in 3 weeks.
1916 is the same year Pleasant Grove School was granted its own school district by the State of Texas. The name of the school district would be Pleasant Grove School District #10. (Travis County Public Schools operated the school before Pleasant Grove was granted its own school district.)
$300 dollars were donated to Pleasant Grove School in 1917. Ms. Bessie Bohman was the first teacher to teach at Pleasant Grove School for the 1917-1918 school year. Enrollment later increased to 40 students. The average daily attendance was 35 students a day.
More students attended this school in 1921 in part due to state aid funding. Pleasant Grove School received state aid from 1921 to 1936. The school was rebuilt and improved in order to meet state requirements in 1929. Several improvements were made before the Great Depression.
School enrollment declined slowly during the 1930s mostly in part due to the Great Depression. 15 students were enrolled during the 1935-1936 school year. That was a 140% drop in enrollment rate from the begging of the century. A $1,000 dollar bond was voted on by residents of the community in 1935. The school was repainted in 1936. Several repairs were made to the school building.
More improvement was made by painting the school with several coat and layers of paint.
In 1941, Pleasant Grove School was renamed to Mud School. That is when the small schoolhouse became the Mud Schoolhouse (Mud School). Mud School when it was named after the former small community of Mud, Texas. Later that year Pleasant Grove School was moved to the small community of Mud, Texas. The school was renamed to Pleasant Grove - Mud Schoolhouse in 1946. The school was rebuilt and improved again in 1947.
In 1948, Pleasant Grove School and Pleasant Grove School District #10 were consolidated into the Teck Common School District and eventually later into Dripping Springs ISD in 1950. Later after 1950, the school building served as a church which held religious services for a brief period in time.
In 1995, Andy Kirkpatrick bought the school building and land property from Dripping Springs ISD and opened the Moon River Bar & Grill inside the former Pleasant Grove School building where it operated from 1995 to 2014. Several additional add-ons have been incorporated onto the school building. Moon River Bar & Grill was a small restaurant that was owned and operated by UMJO LLC and Garden Foulois Inc.
Moon River Bar & Grill was a small successful restaurant known to many Lake Travis residents and Austin citizens along with the rest of Travis County. The rest of Travis County knew about Moon River Bar & Grill very well.
However the owners decided to shut down the Moon River Bar & Grill business in 2014. Party due to wage labor violations cited by the Department of Labor and a set of other problems. Moon River Bar & Grill failed to pay their workers federal minimum wage.
In January 2014, Dead Explorer conducted a paranormal investigation at the Moon River Bar & Grill after an employee of the Moon River Bar restaurant claimed she heard the voice of a female ghost in the kitchen. Staff have come to find out pots have been moved from shelves. Ironically there is a cemetery located less than a block north of the restaurant which serves as the final resting place for Confederate soldiers who fought in the Civil War.
The paranormal investigation video of Moon River Bar & Grill went viral on YouTube later that year receiving thousands of views online. A DVD of the Moon River Bar & Grill paranormal investigation has been released on Dead Explorer’s website which you can purchase there.
Andy Kirkpatrick sold the property to Gary L Barrett in 2015. The building was converted to Hippo’s Hill Country Hideaway which had operated from 2015 to 2016. In 2016, Hippo’s Hill Country Hideaway closed down due to wage labor violations cited by the Department of Labor, low quality service, and a set of other problems.
Future of the former Pleasant Grove School building remains unknown presently speaking. However parts from the school building have been moved and relocated offsite to an unknown location. The green square single story unit structure at the front entrance is no longer present from street view.
Apparently the Pleasant Grove School itself sits just inside the entrance of Pace Bend Park off of Highway 71 & FM 2344 at the location of 2002 Pace Bend Road North, Spicewood, Texas, US 78669. The building is still in its location.
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