Public education began in Mendocino in 1862 with a small primary school located near the corner of Ukiah and Lansing streets, followed in 1885 by a larger Grammar School on the corner of School and Pine streets. Although some limited “advanced” classes were offered there, students seeking a full high school education had to leave town, often living with relatives in San Francisco.
That changed in 1891, when the California legislature passed the Union High School Act, allowing small adjoining districts to combine resources for a single high school. Two high schools were proposed in Mendocino County: one in the county seat, and the other on the coast.
Mendocino High School, 1915. Kelley House Photographs.
After intense lobbying by Fort Bragg and Mendocino school trustees, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors chose Mendocino as the location of the first coastal high school. It would serve students from multiple districts along the coast who previously had little opportunity for education beyond grammar school.
Local businessman William Heeser donated a 4.5-acre hilltop parcel, and in August 1893, plans for a two-story Queen Anne style building were unveiled. The Mendocino Beacon called the design “handsome, tasteful in architecture, and conveniently arranged.”
High school instruction officially began on September 11, 1893, even though construction had not yet started. Classes were held in the old primary schoolhouse for the first two terms. Students came not only from Mendocino but also from Point Arena, Navarro, Little River, Caspar, and Fort Bragg. Some families rented homes in town so their children wouldn’t have to travel far to attend.
In October, D. E. Eggleston of Oakland was awarded the contract to build the high school, and lumber for the building was purchased from the Mendocino Lumber Company. A crew of men and a six-horse team leveled the top of the hill and graded the streets around the lot, and work on the foundation began.
The building measured 80 feet wide by 68 feet deep, with a basement containing two large exercise rooms, one for boys and one for girls, along with bathrooms and a wood-fueled furnace to heat the building. The main floor featured two large sunny classrooms that could be converted into one large room for assemblies, two smaller classrooms, and a science lab. A hip roof topped with a bell tower gave the school a distinctive profile.
By spring 1894, the building was complete, and students moved in. On April 28, the community celebrated with a grand ball attended by guests from all over Mendocino County. For more than fifty years, the building stood as a center of learning and community life, until its demolition in 1948 made way for a new high school on the same site.
Four Walking Tours of Mendocino this week! Wednesday: Haunted Mendocino. Thursday: Murder, She Wrote. Saturday and Sunday: Mendocino Historic District. $25.