|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Welcome to History Corner! In this ongoing feature, The Almanac will publish historical photos from local history associations and our own archives.
This week, we have a photo of Menlo Park School students in front of their schoolhouse in the 1880s.
The Creek School was the earliest public school in what is now the incorporated city of Menlo Park in the Willows neighborhood, according to the Menlo Park Historical Association’s website. The school opened in 1874 and was part of the Redwood City School District on land donated by Col. Atherton McKendry.
The Menlo Park School District (now the Menlo Park City School District) formed in 1880, according to the district website. The first school built by the district was Central Elementary School, on El Camino Real (on the site of the now closed Cadillac dealership), according to the district.
A Central School janitor caused significant damage to the campus when they stripped paint by using turpentine and lighting it on fire (not a procedure used anymore!). After the fire, the campus was condemned for children and was used as the district office. Eventually, the district office was moved to the Encinal campus in Atherton in 1948 and the Central School campus was sold.