As ranches and farms developed, many new families arrived; creating the need for new schools where their children could learn the necessary skills for the modern age. Some early ranchers, such as Ira Aten and Willis Wilsie, donated part of their land for school construction. Many of these early schools were "one-room schoolhouses" where all the grades were combined, with the older children helping the younger ones in their studies.
As the many children grew older, the need for upper-grade schools became important. One of the first of such schools built in the Imperial Valley was the 1912 construction of El Centro's first public high school. Although the Pioneers Museum's archives have many old school photos - the ones displayed on these pages are unique. They portray the exterior, interior, faculty, staff, and classes from this high school in the year 1915. The photos may have been a record of the first graduating class from the school - and may have been the work of noted photographer, Leo Hetzel.
These photographic images were donated to the museum by Mary and Owen L. Miller of Grass Valley, California. Owen's mother was Elva Wilsie, who attended high school in the Imperial Valley (about 1910-1914) and kept this photo collection from that time. Owen and Mary had little information on these photographs - the museum had a little, and we have speculated and questioned others about the images. If you have any additional information to add to this interpretation, please contact me, Eldon R. Caldwell, at my email address: eldonc@imperial.cc.ca.us. Enjoy!
El Centro High School / Central Junior College
This first photo image is an exterior of the front of what is believed to be the original El Centro High School, built in 1912. The covered area under the arches was known as the "Arcade." The center part of the building housed Administrative offices. It was later damaged by an earthquake in 1927 and removed. The other portions (left and right wings) were used for high school classes until the 1940's. Some former students recall that the remaining portions also served as the first college classes held in the Imperial Valley.
Bill Thornburg, who attended school there in 1938, tells us that the two towers were called 'cupolas' and were destroyed on January 24, 1927, following damages caused in an earthquake on January 1, 1927. The school was known to him as Central Junior College and faced Brighton Avenue in El Centro to the north. He believes the school was actually built in 1921 (El Centro School District was formed in 1921) and that it was funded by "junior college funds." Bill said, "There was a lobby in the center and the Auditorium was behind the lobby, a few steps up, and five or six steps down were basement classrooms under the Auditorium." Bill said he took high school Algebra in a basement classroom. He remembers the Chemistry class/lab being located in the left wing and also recalls taking a Health Education college class there in 1945.
ADDED NOTE: The online archives of the Imperial Valley Press contain this story - about Central Junior College - published May 5, 2001, along with this undated picture from the Pioneer Museum archives showing the same building without cupolas.
Next: The Principal's Office