According to local tradition, pioneer settler J.G. Reynolds started the first area school in the 1850s. Early classes were held in log cabins and in the Ash Creek Baptist Church building. Despite interruptions caused by Indian attacks and the Civil War, the Azle Schools grew through consolidation with such nearby schools as Promised Land, Steele, Slover, Sabathany, Liberty, Briar, Bluff Springs and a local college started by William Lipscomb. An independent district since the 1950s, the Azle school system serves as a reminder of the community's pioneer heritage. (1982)