The history of Strawberry Valley schools in Siskiyou County, Calif., began with official district recognition in 1870.
The area now known as Mount Shasta City was originally called Strawberry Valley after the profusion of wild berries found there. From 1857 until 1886, the Strawberry Stage Station served travelers, and other businesses sustained the area, including a sawmill in 1858 and a hotel built by Justin Hinckley Sisson in 1865 that burned down in 1916. Sisson served as postmaster of the nearby Berryvale Post Office. Strawberry Valley was renamed Sisson in 1886, and Sisson became Mount Shasta City in 1923.
The exact location of the first school is unknown, although an early school site was near the present-day fish hatchery. The Strawberry School District may have joined the neighboring Berryvale School District around 1887.
In 1899-1900, the school district employed three teachers who taught 169 students. Other early school sites serving the area included one near Mount Shasta Cemetery, another near the junction of Cedar and Alma Streets in Mount Shasta City, and one on the site of the earliest Mount Shasta Union Elementary School .
Sources: Berryvale School District. Siskiyou County Schools. Web. 25 July 2014.Siskiyou County History 1850-1874. Siskiyou County Historical Society, Web. 25 July 2014.
