• The History of Maple Lawn Elementary and the Mystery of its Name

                In a school district overflowing with schools named after famous people, Maple Lawn Elementary is one the rare schools that is not named after a historical individual. Out of 230 schools only nineteen are not named for famous people.

                Out of the nineteen there is several unique names. There is a grove, a meadow, a mount, even a hollow, but Maple Lawn Is the only one with a lawn. Also it is one of the few schools that is named after a tree. There is an Oak, a walnut and a spruce, but actually the Spruce is a person’s last name.

                Another unique fact is there is no native Maple trees in the Dallas area and certainly none on the Maple Lawn Elementary campus. The Maple tree is a beautiful tree that thrives more in abundance down in the Hill country of Texas.

                In the late 1800’s a county school named Cochran Chapel was located near Midway road and Northwest Highway. There was another school named Maple Avenue located on Maple Avenue near Mockingbird Lane. These two schools were consolidated in the early 1900’s and a frame two-story structure was built. A prize of one dollar was offered for the best or most appropriate name suggested for the new school. A young school boy won the prize, the name selected was Maple Lawn School.

                The school was originally a four teacher institution. Then in the early 1900’s the trustees of Maple Lawn acquire a bond for $10,000 to build a new brick structure. The land for the new structure was donated by a Mr. C. C. Weichsel and the new brick structure school was built on its present location. 

                At this time Dallas was a growing area, therefore the Maple Lawn school district began to grow covering areas as far as the present day Preston Road and surrounding areas. It went from a poor to a very rich school district.

                In 1922 Maple Lawn ISD was annexed by Dallas ISD, and became a part of the present day Dallas District school system. As one of the oldest school structures in Dallas, Maple Lawn has gone through many structural changes. Now a wonderful campus serving Pre-k to 5th grade, it is school that welcomes nearly 500 students every school year in a continually changing community.