© 2024 | Jefferson Public Radio
Southern Oregon University
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6301 | 800.782.6191
a service of Southern Oregon University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

As It Was: Fairground Puts Old School on Display in August

An authentic 1902 one-room schoolhouse is tucked away on the Del Norte County Fairgrounds in Crescent City, Calif.
At the turn of the century, the North Bank Road’s Redwood #1 School was where children learned their lessons along the bank of the Smith River midway between Hiouchi and Dr. Fine bridges.

In 1994, the property stood in the way of a housing development and the Del Norte Golf Course.

At the time, fair board members were looking for ways to preserve and promote local history, so they made a deal for the owner to donate it and they would pay the expense of relocating the dilapidated structure.

The old redwood schoolhouse had four-inch, tongue-and-groove fir flooring with no indoor plumbing, no lights, and no heating other than an old woodstove.  The movers lifted the building onto a flatbed trailer and the California Highway Patrol escorted the move down the highway to the fairgrounds, where it got a new foundation, repaired siding and a new roof.

Today, with its interior nicely restored, Redwood School #1 is open to public viewing each year during Fair, held the first weekend of August.

 

Sources: Riley, Joan. "It's School Time Once Again." Del Norte Triplicate, 26 Feb. 1994, p. 1.  de Bruin, Cornelia. "Old Redwood Schoolhouse." Del Norte Triplicate, 13 Feb. 2016, www.triplicate.com/news/4347937-151/old-redwood-schoolhouse.

Laurel earned a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from Humboldt State. Her research efforts as a volunteer for the Curry Historical Society produced numerous newsletter articles and exhibits and earned her a reputation as a seasoned local history buff. Laurel is the author of "Renderings from the Gold Beach Pioneer Cemetery", a 50-page booklet containing a walking tour and snippets about the lives and times of folks buried there. She is also a contributing writer to Oregon Coast Magazine.