I just launched a new Flickr photo account for the Orange County Historical Society (OCHS) this weekend. We're starting out small, with a handful of images that were already scanned and available. Hopefully we'll add more content later, reflecting a broader range of locales throughout the County. The OCHS photo above shows the Ringling Brothers Circus parade going down 4th Street in Santa Ana in September 1910. There are photos of this parade scattered through a number of collections throughout O.C., and someday it would be fun to gather copies of them all together and do a slide show..
The Orange County Historical Society's previously announced April 9th program, "Remembering the Golden Bear" has been cancelled, due to circumstances beyond their control. In leiu of that program, Jo An Ardanaz of the Yorba Linda Historical Society will present a discussion on the Suzanne Bixby Bryant Ranch in Yorba Linda. This should also be an excellent program, so I hope you won't shy away just because we've switched from bears to bulls (or rather, cattle). The meeting will still take place Apr. 9, 7:30pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange.
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Just when I think I've heard of every historical group in Orange County, another one appears on my radar screen. While searching for something totally unrelated, I stumbled across a website for the Orange County Jewish Historical Society.
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This note appeared in the comments for my previous post: "Do you know what the oldest elementary school in Orange County is? Just wondering... I'm working to save Silverado Elementary which dates from 1903...(at two different sites, yes)."
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I'm afraid I don't know what the oldest school is in O.C., but perhaps one of our readers does. Anyone?... Anyone?... Bueller?...
10 comments:
I don't know anything about the Silverado school, but was wondering if you have any statisics on the Price Elementary school in Anaheim. I can see on the live maps that the buildings are still there. I went to school there in the 50's and I do not know how old the buildings were then.
Price School, at 1516 W. North St. in Anaheim, opened in mid-October of 1954. It was named for Miss Adelaide Price, who served as a school nurse in Anaheim for 24 years.
A 10-room addition was added to the school in 1955.
The school is still being used.
Although I'm not sure if it's the oldest, Loara Elementary School (in Anaheim) was established in 1888.
My parents' home was built out of the redwood salvaged from the original schoolhouse.
Thanks - appreciate it.
Chris: I'm sure you can find the answer in "History of Orange County Education: 1850-1950." I'm sure you folks have it; if not, I'll look through my copy and find the answer!
Thanks Gustavo. I do have that book, but I'm not sure I want to quote it. It is often less than accurate. Anything I take from it needs to be double-checked.
Even if we took Hill at face value, I don't think it would help us figure out which is the longest-lived school still in operation. Things have changed a bunch since the 1950s.
However, if the question is actually "What was the FIRST organized school in O.C.," then I suppose the answer would be the school at Mission SJC. Of course, there was a significant break in its dates of operation.
okay - I guess my question should have been this: so what is the oldest elementary school still in operation?
I do remember hearing that Loara Elementary was the oldest continuing elementary school in Orange County at some point during high school. But up there in the ranks of OC's oldest kiddie schools would be St. Catherine's Military Academy in Anaheim (next to St. Boniface Church); been in continuous operation since 1889.
thanks!
The problem with questions like this is always, how are you going to define "oldest"? Does it have to be continuous? In the same location? Under the same name?
That said, I can think of at least three OC schools that have a claim to be older -- Centralia Elementary began in 1876 (they say '75). Olive Elementary was also born in 1876, but was closed for a while. They have been on the same site since about 1895. Villa Park Elementary began in the spring of 1881, just a couple months before Silverado. It was known as Mountain View for the first 30 years.
None of this, of course, takes away from the value of a local school to its community, but there is no benefit in trying to "use" our history to make a point, unless we do it accurately.
--Phil B.
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