In the 1880s, the area now known as Van contained a scattered collection of farm houses and a general store. There was no school located close enough for community children to attend regularly. Recognizing the community’s need for a school, a local farmer, George W. Swindall, donated one acre for the establishment of a community school ca. 1880. Three of Swindall’s children later attended the school. The community and the school came to be known as Swindall. Swindall School’s first teacher was T.W. Staton, and the school only employed one teacher at a time through the 1905-1906 school year. Two teachers were employed at one time when husband and wife John N. and Lucy Rhodes were hired in fall 1906. A third teacher was added in 1911. The Van school district was officially established by the county commissioners court in 1903. The district contained twelve and one-fifth square miles and two schools—Swindall and Spring Hill. Although a post office was established in 1894 under the name Van, the school continued to be called Swindall throughout its years of service. By 1915, Swindall School was well into its third decade of use, was in need of repair, and was no longer large enough to accommodate its enrollment. A bond was passed in 1916 to build a larger school approximately halfway between Swindall and Spring Hill Schools, and both were closed at the end of the 1915-1916 school year. The new school opened in fall 1916 and was called Van Common School.