History of Texas Land

by Texas. General Land Office

GRANTS FOR EDUCATION

The people of Texas have always been interested in better educational systems. Early Texas newspapers reflect this fact. Consequently, land was set aside by the Republic or State at one time or other for the benefit of The University of Texas, county schools, eleemosynary institutions, and public schools. In many cases, this land has been sold, and the systems have benefited from the fund thereby created.

The University of Texas

By the Act of January 26, 1839, the Congress of the Republic of Texas set aside 50 leagues of land to be used in the establishment of two colleges or universities. This land was not surveyed until August 30, 1856, and The University of Texas actually received a fraction over 49 leagues, that is, about 217,000 acres. Most of this land, which was located in Grayson, Hunt, Fannin, Cooke, Lamar, Collin, McLennan, Callahan, and other counties, was sold. From them the University received about $653,000. A fraction of one league remains in the hands of the University.

The Act of August 30, 1856, provided that income from sales of University lands should compose a fund subject to appropriation by the Legislature for the University.

Earlier, an Act of January 30, 1854, which was primarily concerned with encouraging the growth of railroads in the State, gave the University one of every ten sections allotted for railroads. To this, the Legislature added on February 11, 1858, $100,000 in bonds, and one section of land in ten granted to the Galveston and Brazos Navigation Company.

The Constitution of 1876 provided the first real basis for the University, granting the school one million acres from the unclaimed public domain, providing that the one of every ten railroad sections were not taken by the University. An Act of April 10, 1883, added another million acres to this.

The Constitution of 1876 also provided for the establishment of a Permanent University Fund which was to be composed of all land belonging to the University and all income from the sale of this land. In later years, this fund has grown by leaps and bounds as royalties and bonuses from oil exploration and production on University lands have been added to it. At the end of 1957, the Permanent University Fund stood at about $292,000,000. This money is invested, and income from these investments goes into an available fund from which The University of Texas draws two-thirds and Texas A & M College one-third for current expenses.

Public Schools

The other great Texas educational fund is the Permanent School Fund, which amounted to nearly $360,500,000 in July, 1957. Like the Permanent University Fund, this money is invested, and income from the investments is spent for current needs. Unlike the University Fund, the Permanent School Fund may have one per cent of its value appropriated by the Legislature each year for current expenses. Of course, this appropriation—if made—is approved during the Legislature’s biennial session. The bulk of the Permanent School Fund, like the Permanent University Fund, has come from mineral development on specific lands set aside for the benefit of the fund.

These lands were provided by the Constitution of 1876, which said that one-half of the public domain of the state, alternate sections of railroad land, and all money from the sale of these lands should constitute the Permanent School Fund. An Act of February 23, 1900, gave the then remaining public domain to the Permanent School Fund, except for rivers, lakes, bays, and islands along the Gulf of Mexico. In 1939, the Texas Legislature dedicated the mineral estate of these rivers, lakes, bays and islands to the Permanent School Fund. For sometime before the dedication, most income from these sources had been channeled into the Permanent School Fund.

Under these acts, 46,500,000 acres of land, including the mineral estate alone of 7,160,000 acres, have been granted to the Permanent School Fund. Of the former figure, 42,500,000 acres are surveyed uplands, of which only about 900,000 remain unsold. The first school land sold was 160 acres in Bowie County in 1874. Since 1905 all sales have been on a competitive sealed bid basis.

Moneywise, oil production royalties alone brought the Permanent School Fund more than $14,000,000 in 1956. Of the 7800 oil leases in force, production was experienced on about 1400.

Another source of income—small though it is—for the Permanent School Fund comes from tracts of unsurveyed land. These are called “vacancies”. People occupying this land usually believe that they own it. In 1939 the Legislature passed an act designed to protect the occupants of the land in their rights and to insure that the Permanent School Fund receives its rightful share of the value of this unsurveyed land.

Of a similar nature to vacancies is excess land—acreage within a tract in excess of what was granted to the first claimant. These were usually created by inadequate surveying equipment and hardships under which surveyors worked during the early years of Texas. For example, a tract of land when first surveyed might have measured 160 acres. Today, with more precise surveying equipment and methods, the tract might survey out to be 180 acres. The difference between the two—20 acres—is excess acreage. It has been estimated that about one per cent of the total area of the state, or about 1,750,000 acres, was at one time excess land.

Owners of property containing excess land were also covered by the June 19, 1939, law mentioned above. These owners, and property holders occupying vacancies, were allowed by the 1939 law to pay a reasonable price for the land and receive a clear title to the property.

As examples of money coming into the Permanent School Fund from these sources, excesses have put about $2,000,000 into the fund since the 1939 law was enacted, and vacancies have brought the fund about half a million dollars.

In conclusion, it will be of interest to note that lands now belonging to the Permanent School Fund are channels, lakes, bays, and other areas within tidewater limits including part of the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, vacant lands and 900,000 acres of surveyed uplands belong to the Permanent School Fund. All minerals within the remaining public domain have, therefore, been dedicated to this school fund.

County Schools

The general education act of January 26, 1839, which gave The University of Texas 50 leagues of land, also made provision for local schools throughout Texas. This act granted each county in the then-Republic three leagues for school purposes. An Act of March 13, 1875, increased each county’s grant to four leagues. All but 18 of the state’s present 254 counties received this land, and most of them sold it, receiving small sums. Some counties retained their land, and many have had oil discovered on their property. Each county set up its own permanent school fund into which goes money from sale of county lands or money from mineral leases. Most counties that did not sell their land today have permanent funds of several hundred thousand dollars.

These county lands are under the control of each county commissioners court, and are not supervised by the General Land Office.

Eleemosynary Institutions

An endowment for these institutions was created by the Legislature with an Act of August 30, 1856. By this act more than 100,000 acres were given to each of these institutions: State Insane Asylum, Institute for the Blind, Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, and the State Orphan Home. When this land was surveyed, it was found to contain about 410,600 acres. Under various sales acts from 1881 through 1897, this land was sold mostly to settlers who improved it. Price of this property was from $1 to $2.50 per acre. Most of the land was suitable for farming.