Baker High School - Nugget Yearbook (Baker City, OR)

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RISE 8.l'lCl PPDQPESS uf lllB Baker 5Cl'lUUlS tContmued l om P ec dmg P g J Mr Mlller was Mrs Calbreath s successor About thrs t1me the f1rst regular schoolhouse ln Baker C1ty was erected on the east slde of Mam Street between Washlngton and Court Streets somewhere near the center of the present Warshauer block It was a small unpretentlous bulldlng capable of accom modatmg about flfty pupmls 1t was f1tted out wlth large h1gh desks each of wh1ch could be occupled by three students The grounds were unlmproved and the early settlers here tell that the students were obllgated to wade the dust to the1r shoetops Thxs bu1ld1ng now stands 1n the rear of Merers Hotel In the summer of 58 M1ss McCrary taught 1n thxs bu1ld1ng and 1n the wm ter of the same year Mrs Ferguson tooL her place and taught through the wmter of 69 In connectlon wrth the da1ly routme of classwork Mrs Ferguson found t1me to have the students wr1te composrtlons del1ver oratlons of the1r own wr1t1ng and leam preces and rec1te them they sometlmes gave exh1b1t1ons to wh1ch all the fnends and patrons of the school were permltted to take part It must have been a queer s1ght to see those rough and hardy old m1ners and the leamed professlonal men l1ned up w1th the youngsters to contest the1r ab1l1t1es as spellers and often we are told the spectators were much sur pnsed to see some one ln the humbler walks of llfe carry off the laurels but the settlers comlng as they d1d from all parts of the contment were often poor 1n purse only and possessed much ln the way of educat1on It was somewhere about th1s time that a young lady from New England was teachrng and after the f1rst week 1t was notlced that a certam famlly were not send1ng the1r chlldren to school and when the reason was asked the mother replxed The teacher IS from New England and I do not belleve m patromzlng forergners An explanatlon followed and the chlldren were sent to school In those days when the Baker C1ty School was 111 1ts mfancy the terms consrsted of but three months each and rnstead of s1gh1ng for vacatron the puplls counted the days t1l they agam would be permltted to gather rn the llttle schoolhouse and enjoy the blessed pr1v1lege of pursumg the1r studmes A publlc llbrary was talked of and an entertalnment glven to procure money wlth wh1ch to buy books Were they ever purchased cannot be leamed So we see that our forefathers were not altogether thoughtless of the m1nd whxle seekrng to enr1ch the1r stores of gold In the fall of 69 A H Brown R A Plerce Wlllldm F McCrary and L W Nelson as founders of the Baker C1ty Academy proceeded to erect a burld mg on the sxte of the present h1gh school bulldmg It was a two story frame structure and when near complet1on 1t caught fxre and bumed down xt was lmmedrately recommenced and thls t1me f1n1shed wlthout accldent Thls was about 1870 and 1n 1871 or 72 another bu1ld1ng though much smaller was erected for a pnmary department The above named commlttee employed as the f1rst teachers m the new academy Prof Frank Grubbs and w1fe of Salem Dunng the t1me rn whxch the academy was belng bullt. the school was carr1ed Page 4 n ' r re ae , , 1 . 1 1 1 1 1 I I - 1 1 1 1 1. 1 11 1 1 1 1 . , 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 .1 1 1 l 1 ... 1 1 I I I - 1 1 1 1 - 11 - 1 1 1 .1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 . ,. . 1 . 1 1 1. 1 1 1 1 1 1 , 1 .1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I - , - 1 1 1 1 1. I I I 1 1 1

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R150 and PPUQFBSS of the BHHEI' S0l'l00lS Baker C1ty has been called the Queen ol the West The Eldorado of Ore gon and many other such names these are 1n connectlon wlth and honor of our rlch m1nes vast tlmber lands and fertlle valleys But the most prlceless Jewel the falrest flower the schools have been scantlly praxsed beslde the other r1ches whrch she possesses The m1nes the forests the valleys all draw the more practlcal class oi people but the schools attract the more cultured and rehned ones What does 1t mean lor a c1ty when one says They have good schools there 7 Doesnt 1t mean that there must be educated rehned 1ntell1gent people 1n that commun1ty'7 A man w1th a :lamlly of growlng ch1ldren w1ll not now as 1n the davs of the S1Xl1eS and sevent1es p1Ck up and go to a place where there are no educa t1onal fGC1lll1eS lor now an educatlon 1S worth more 1n every way than gold In tracmg the F159 and progress of the publ1c schools ol Baker Clty through all 1lS stages of development from 1ts rnlancy to beautrlul mardenhood we are obllgated to turn back on the pages ot h1story to the year 1865 Twas 1n th1s ch1ldren rompmg along 1ts dusty roads to dnnk at the then meager fountam ol knowledge The school began 1n the summer oi 65 w1th Mrs Calbreath as teacher the schoolhouse was a httle bulldrng now a part of the H E Courtney s resrdence on the corner of Fourth Street and Auburn Avenue There were about th1rty hve or forty students and each had a drfferent set ot books thus makmg the dutres of the teacher very hard to perform She sometlmes was compelled to detam the puprls unt1l hve o clock 1n order that each one m1ght recelve the proper amount of attent1on Th1s state of allalrs cont1nued unt1l the year 1868 yet notw1thstand1ng the ex1stence of so many drsadvantages we have many bnght and useful men and women who would be a cred1t to a much larger and better regulated school than the one 1n whlch they recelved a large part ol therr mstruct1on Mrs Calbreath taught the school lor three terms each trme havmg her place oi mstructlon changed In the wlnters oi 66 67 school was held 1n a httle bu1ld1ng that belonged to Sam Barger and stood near the present slte ol the Arlmgton Bulldmg and 1n the summer of 67 whrch was her last term she taught m her own home on Flrst Street between Aubum and Valley Avenues I ont n d on I Q J P ge 3 I year that the little hamlet of Baker first witnessed the sight of merry school ' C x ue wlext Pa e C

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RISE 8.1'1El PFUQFESS of ll'lB Baker SCl'lO0lS HQPQJ on flrst 1n a bu1ld1ng on FIISI Street between Center fBroadwayl and Wash 1ngton and then 1n a bu1ld1ng wh1ch IS now a part of the Commerclal Hotel on the comer of Flrst and Court Streets In looklng up ltems for th1s work I found a rcport card or cert1f1cate of standmg as xt was called made out ln 1877 by W Harnson at that t1me pr1nc1pal of the academy It was prmted on a p1em.e of fools cap paper cut to the d1mens1ons of about exght by ten mches 1t was so arranged that all the space was taken wlth one month s grade thereby necess1tat1ng the prmt 1ng of a new cert1f1cate each month there was no place for the parents to Slgn the1r name as there IS on the cards now Th1s academy was a pay1ng 1nst1tut1on the tu1t1on be1ng collected every eleven weeks In 1872 Prof S P Barrett took charge of the school and carrled 1t on very successfully untll 1875 when he was called to take charge of another school and was succeeded by W Harnson who taugh t1l 1878 Up to 1887 there were no school records kept and when Mr Whltney was elected as school super1ntendent he sa1d he found the superlntendent s offlce 1n a soap box All there was of 1t was a few papers and rece1pts just what was necessary to preserve In 1887 the board of d1rectors for School D1str1ct No 5 began to cons1der the propos1t1on of a new school bulldlng that would accommodate the ever contract was let for bu1ld1ng a structure to cost S30 000 When the blds were opened the lowest was S33 993 All these were relected and a not1ce 1ssued for more b1ds th1s t1me the lowest was S26 996 and was taken The old academy was sold on Iune 12 1888 at publ1c auct1on to the hlghest b1dder that person be1ng B W Levens he g1v1ng S640 for 1t he moved the bu1ld1ng down 1n Leven s Add1t1on where 1t now stands The new schoolhouse was f1n1shed on Ianuary 14 1889 the f1rst fumlsh 1ngs cost S1776 and nearly as much more has s1nce been expended for the same purpose At the t1me of IIS complet1on the new bu1ld1ng conslsted of ten rec1tat1on rooms and a lunch room th1s comprlsed the f1rst and second floors wh1le on the th1rd floor was an aud1tor1um about forty by elghty smx feet th1s was used for all school entertalnments and exh1b1t1ons At the beg1nn1ng of the flrst term 1n the new schoolhouse Ianuary 1889 there were ten teachers and 606 puplls Wllh Prof Herbert Klttredge as Pr1nc1pal and Prof Duffleld 111 charge of the h1gh school The hrst class that graduated from the Baker Clty H1gh School d1d a three years course 1n one year 1n order that there mlght be a class for the f1rst year of the school Prof Duffmeld only remamed one year and was 1n charge of the elghth grade and h1gh school He was followed by Prof Barrett who remamed one year and was followed by our present hlghly respected supenntendent Prof I A Church1ll Prof Krttredge only remamed one year longer and 1n 1892 Prof Church1ll took the supermtendency Prof Duffield was then employed as teacher 111 the h1gh school for one year and lCommued on Next Pagel Page 5 I Cffontinued from Precedl a e . . . x I . . , - - , increasing number of school children. In September of the same year the . . . , 7 , : ' ' - . ,