Ye Olden Oakland Days - 6/12/1921

Ye Olden Oakland Days

OAKLAND'S FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE.

By Chas. G. Reed (No. 15).

(Contributed by Oakland Pioneers - No. 43)

The above is a picture of Oakland's first public school house, made by Leo Spencer, draftsman and former pupil of our schools, and is taken from a drawing made from memory by the writer of this article, who attended school there in 1857-8-9 and '60. The building was known as the Carpentier schoolhouse from the fact that the waterfront of Oakland was deeded to H. W. Carpentier in 1852 by the board of town trustees, for this building, costing $1000. The only other consideration was the building of a wharf at the foot of Broadway, over which Oakland had no control.

The building stood at the northeast corner of Fourth and Clay streets, facing south, and with the shed and other necessary buildings on the east, and standing back from Fourth street about the depth of the school building, it occupied about fifty feet on Fourth street. Carpentier donated the lot, which was probably worth about $50 at that time,

It was 22x38 feet, twelve foot ceilIng, shingled roof and clapboarded sides. The belfry contained a small bell which, owing to the prevailing stillness of the little hamlet, could be heard at my home near 16th and Market streets a mile away. The building was painted white. It stood on mudsills and about two and one half feet from the ground.

A small oak tree stood directly in front and quite close to the buildIng, its branches much bent and worn from frequent games of tree tag. A small covered porch about 4x5 feet stood over the front door.

PAINTED LIGHT BLUE. 

The building was not plastered, but sealed on sides and ceiling with boards and painted light blue. The ceiling was well bespattered with spit-balls made by chewing paper and while the cud was wet and the teacher's back turned, throwing them with such force that they adhered.

On the west side of the teacher's desk was a small wood stove with pipe running through the back wall, and on the back wall a blackboard. There were four rows of desks across the room, each wide enough for two pupils, and nine rows deep, giving a seating capacity of seventy-two, and as we had an enrollment of ninety, many of the smaller pupils sat about the teacher's platform. The windows were about 3x7 feet and three on each side of the room, giving plenty of light.

The pupils nearly filled the room that little space was left for recitations of classes and not infrequently the older classes stood up and down the main aisle. Besides its use for school purposes it was the place of many public gatherings. Here the Durant Rhetorical Society met to discuss the questions of the day, Rev. Henry Durant, Rev. Samuel B. Bell, J. E. Whitcher, Judge James Lentell, John Ross, L. J. Hardy, Franklin Warner, F. K. Shattuck, Judge George M. Blake and many other leading citizens taking part.

DEBATING SOCIETY ORGANIZED

In imitation of their elders, the young men organized the Franklin Debating Society, using the schoolhouse for their meetings

The neighborhood about the schoolhouse was mostly residential. In the same block next east was the home of William Bacon, of Bacon & Hardy's Express: next the paint shop of McDavitt & Ross; next the residences of William Hillegass of Shattuck & Hillegass, liverymen, and J. W. Hoag. On the corner of Fourth and Washington streets, now occupied by the Gould Flouring Mill, stood a grain warehouse, now the northern part of the Gould mill. Part way up the block on Washington street was the residence of Douglas Barnes, and at the corner of Fifth street the residence of Dr. Keys, one time postmaster whose daughter Lucy is the mother of our State Surveyor General Kingsbury. [Click the 1906-1928 tab. - MF]

The northern part of the block was mostly unoccupied and afforded us a good playground. Across Clay street on the west was the residence of Judge H. Glascock and diagonally to the southwest was a French bakery and a bathhouse with signs in French, Spanish and English. Opposite the front of the schoolhouse, on the south side of Fourth street, were the residence and stables of Isaac Wingate, expressman. One block up Clay street on the northWest corner was the residence of Mayor Andrew Williams.

A small school at the northeast corner of Second and Washington streets had been maintained by the citizens for a short time previous to the Carpentier school. The teachers were Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. J. E. Whitcher. On July 13, 1853, the schoolhouse was formally turned over to the town by Mr. Carpentier. Quite a bit of excitement was created at the time and there was a grand parade of citizens, ending at the schoolhouse, where speeches were made by a number of leading citizens.

SCHOOL GROWS RAPIDLY.

The school was organised with sixteen pupils and Miss Hannah Jayne was placed in charge, who taught until the fall vacation. She was superseded in the spring of 1854 by Franklin Warner.

The pupils increased so rapidly that the census of 1855 showed 155 children of school age. The building could not hold them all and a building at the northeast corner of Broadway and Fifth street, formerly occupied by the Oakland College school, now removed to Twelfth and Harrison streets, was leased by the board of education and the older pupils were transferred thereto and Mr. Warner was placed in charge, while Mrs. Warner was employed to teach the younger pupils at the schoolhouse.

The building Mr. Warner's classes occupied was then known as the "Pavillon." As soon as the "College school" under Mr. Durant was established on Twelfth street, quite a number of the older pupils withdrew from the public school to attend the College school; in fact so many withdrew that the "Pavilion school" was abandoned and Mr. Warner became a teacher under Mr. Durant from 1856 to 1859, when he again took up the public school work in 1860.

In 1857 Ralza A. Morse was placed in charge of the school. In 1858 Henry Goble taught, remaining until the return of Mr. Warner.

NO OTHER PICTURE.

It seems most remarkable that there is no picture of this historical building, for which the entire water front of the city was traded, anywhere to be found. In 1862 after it was abandoned by the city the Methodists purchased it and moved it to the west side of Washington street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, where it was used for a church under the pastorate of Rev. Charles E. Rich. The Methodists in tum passed it along to the colored Methodists, who moved it to the east side of West street, just south of Seventh street. Later it was moved about fifty feet to the south and became a part of a lodging or rooming house occupied by colored people.

It is still there, but so built over and changed that no one would recognize it as the old schoolhouse. I have searched amongst the Methodists and colored Methodists and in many other directions, but have failed to find any trace of a picture of this building. Hearing that the Oakland Museum had a picture amongst its lantern slides purporting to be that of Oakland's first schoolhouse. I visited the museum and saw the slide, but I was disappointed, for there was no semblance whatever of the building in the slide.

Should this article be the means of bringing out a photograph of the building I shall be glad to withdraw my picture made from memory over a period of more than sixty years and substitute the real one for it.

Sun, Jun 12, 1921 – Page 35 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Newspapers.com