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Masonic Home Independent School District

The Masonic Home and School of Texas was a home for widows and orphans in 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. Orphan Blake R. Van Leer was the only boy in 1909, went on to become president of Georgia Tech and civil rights advocate.

Early history
In 1899, 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. ==Football glory==
Football glory
The Masonic Home's 1930s football teams were the subject of the 2007 Jim Dent book, Twelve Mighty Orphans. One of those players, Hardy Brown, went on to play for ten seasons in the NFL, primarily for the San Francisco 49ers. In 1995, the Masonic Home won the TAPPS Class 1A State Football Championship against St. Paul High School in Groesbeck, Texas under coaches Tom Hines and former student Arthur (Buster) Bone. The book would later be adapted into a film, 12 Mighty Orphans, in 2021. ==Later years==
Later years
The school closed in 2005 due to lack of funding because of a $6.9 million dollar sexual abuse settlement. The school district merged with the Fort Worth Independent School District and the buildings and grounds were sold to a private developer. A charter school built in front of the Masonic Home site site, Uplift Mighty Preparatory, was named after the Mighty Mites. ==See also==
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