Collection: Directories and Documents > Historical Clippings

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Title: Historical Clippings Book (HC-04) Collection Type: Directories and Documents Collection Name: Historical Clippings Catalog #: HC-04 Author: Lyle White Related Items: Historical Clippings > Historical Clippings Index for Volume 1-4 Notes: pp701-887 # of Pages: 198 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Printed or handwritten: All printed text Date Scanned: 2024-10-22 16:05:41 Scanned By: Jim Moore, Erik Caruso Scanning Equipment: CZUR Book Scanner OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: JPGs First Created: 2024-11-07 19:13:58 Last Updated: 2024-11-08 17:13:27

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

Page: of 198  

. . GRASS VALLEY, NEVADA CITY, CALIF. _ FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1968 . A banquet in 1853 aided the first public school in N.C. By MARGARET TRIVELPIECE Nevada City ladies of 1853 gave a banquet to help finance the first public school in Nevada City and their 1968 counterparts worked equally hard to promoting the school bond election. Mrs, Clara A. Weeks tells of the benefit banquet and other facets of early county education in an historical society bulletin published in April, 1956. The writer, a retired school teacher now in her 90's resides in the Mountain View rest home. She taught in outlying districts and has been described as an "'excellent teacher and aid to the county superintendent's office.” The ladies served their banquet Dec. 6, 1853, Public spirited citizens then loosened purse strings and the informal "bond election” was over. The school was built on the present Site of the Episcopal Church, However by 1859 growing numbers of childrm created a need for a larger school. It was constructed near the location of the present elementary school and served until it was replaced by the Washington School, which in turn was replaced by the present elementary school. Historians say in 185] there were only 200 children in the county. They reason that the earliest arrivals hesitated to bring their families and expose them to the rigors of crossing the plains, The earliest gold seekers' children attended private schools which sprung up in the young community. Mrs. Weeks tells that a Mrs. Sampson opened the first private school in 1851, She taught 20 students in a small building where the Methodist Church now stands. : Other early private schools were located on Boulder street, Piety Hill, and the junction of East and West Broad streets. At one time a Catholic school was attachedto St. Canice Catholic Church, Segregation played a part in early county education for it is reported there were schools for white children and others for colored. 728 An octegenarian educated in Nevada City schools recalls a building on Pine street was purchased for colored children, He said it was “neatly fitted" for the purpose and remembered G. A, Cantine as the instructor. He estimated 18 children were in attendance, Mrs. Weeks in her bulletin noted there were schoolsata . very early date in Nevada City and Grass Valley for colored children, with colored people in charge, Elmer Stevens wrote in an historical society bulletin published in Sept. 1964; "In 1867 a gift enterprise was conducted by the Cosmopolitan Benevolent Society to pay the debt on the Washington school; the highest prize, $10,000, was drawn by a party from Plumas County. With the completion of the Washington School, \ the former school was used for colored children, until integration took place in Nevada City." The old Washington school was replaced in 1936 by the present elementary building. Some learning may have suffered as excited pupils divided their attention between lessons and construction of the new building. Many Nevada Cityans recall Seven Hills School as the "Old Nevada City High School," It sheltered its first classes in 1912, Some historians say Nevada City instituted its first high school in 1862 on the corner of Nevada and Water streets. In describing it Mrs. Weeks wrote; : "It was shaded by fine locust trees and was built partly of wood and partly of brick. The rooms were furnished with ‘modern! furniture, a geological cabinet, and otherimprovements." Dates for high schools in Grass Valley and Nevada City vary with historians, Mrs. Weeks stated it is known that in 1868 the State legislature authorized a tax levy of one per cent for high schools and a "new and elegant" structure was completed in Nevada City at a cost of $19,798.47. The Cosmopolitan Benevolent Society aided in financing this building through issuing 50,000 tickets for a drawing held in the Nevada Theater Dec, 18, 1867. It is said the highest prize, $10,000, was dravn by a party from Plumas county, GRASS VALLEY, NEVADA city, CALIF. ‘FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1968, “sesgnitty? THE PUBLIC High School in Nevada City as it looked courtesy of Marie Jeffery) long before World War II started, (Photo.