1874 -- Pasadena settlers originally called the area they inhabited the Indiana Colony, reflecting a large settlement of Hoosiers in the area. The people who settled in Pasadena in the early days were those who regarded education as an absolute necessity to a civilized community. These settlers together with San Gabriel, formed one of the few early school districts which was called by the County Board of Supervisors the San Pasqual District, and it covered an area of ten square miles.
1874 (September 10) -- Colonel Banbury's twin daughters, Jessie and Jennie, known as the "Banbury twins," began attending school at the home of William T. Clapp on S. Orange Grove Avenue near California Street. School was taught by William Clapp's daughter, Miss Jennie H. Clapp. Colonel Jabez Banbury was a veteran of the Union Army.
(September 12) -- The First School Board of Trustees for the San Pasqual District was elected. Board members were W.W. Edwards (President), H.G. Bennett (Clerk), and Jabez Banbury. Within a week the school was in progress with 16 pupils enrolled. Due to the large number of students, school closed within a month until a new school house could be built.
1875 -- San Gabriel Orange Grove Association adopted the name Pasadena for the Indiana Colony. It came from the Indian word Pe-qua-de-na, which translates to "Crown of the Valley."
(January 28) A new building was built and school reopened near the home of William Clapp at a cost of $300. Miss Clapp continued as the teacher of the school.
1876 (August) -- The Board of Trustees for the San Pasqual School District accepted from Mr. Benjamin D. "Don Benito" Wilson a donation of five acres of land at the southeast corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Colorado Street (renamed Colorado Blvd in 1958). Wilson originally owned 2,500 acres in 1852, and bought and sold acreage in the area during subsequent years. He is known as one of the "Fathers of Pasadena."
1877 -- A literary society was formed by the older school children and the young people of the community. As no other meeting place was available, an addition to the school house was constructed and the meetings of the literary society were held there. There appeared the first newspaper published in Pasadena. It was called "The Reservoir."
(June) The original school house on William Clapp's grounds was moved to the corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Colorado Street, on the land donated by B.D. Wilson.
(September) The school opened as the Central School, and was sometimes referred to as the Fair Oaks school. Central School existed at this location until June 1886.
1878 -- The district continued to grow very rapidly and a building was constructed on the corner of Colorado and Fair Oaks, the money being raised by assessment of the district. There subjects resembling High School studies were first taught. The teachers were Newell Mathews, who still resides there and a Miss F. Covence Royce. The building was considered at that time an extraordinary good one.
San Pasqual School District kept growing as Pasadena's population grew.
(January 7) A seceding group of residents living west of Fair Oaks Avenue and south of California Street extending to the northern border of the City of Los Angeles wanted to have their own district. This is when the name "Pasadena School District" was first used.
(March 5) Outside the auspices of the San Pasqual School District, a school opened in the house belonging to Mr. C.B. Ripley located on West Columbia Street. This school was located in the area of the seceding group of residents.
(March 30) $3,500 was raised through a special tax that was voted on and approved for the San Pasqual District to fund the construction of a larger school building at Fair Oaks Avenue and Colorado Street.
(Fall) A new Central School was built and opened in the Fall of 1878. M.H. Weight, the first mayor of Pasadena, and a few others donated their labor towards the construction of the new Central School building.
The school was the largest building in downtown when it went up in 1878. It was a two story building with a bell tower and it was designed by architect Hamilton "Harry" Ridgeway.
1879 -- "Pasadena School District" in the seceding area of southern Pasadena purchased another site on Columbia Street and erected a small building. The school was called the Pasadena District School. The school was for those students who lived west of Fair Oaks and south of Columbia Street.
1883 -- Three new schools were built. One of these occupied the site of the present Washington School, another was located on the corner of Colorado and Hill Streets. At that time there were many students desiring to take advantage of regular High School work. The need of more advanced education became so great that steps were taken looking towards the establishment of a High School. The five acres which belonged to the Colorado and Fair Oaks school became too valuable to be longer used for school purposes.
1886 -- Property on north Marengo Avenue was given to the School Board. The down-town property was auctioned for about $45,000. Some idea of the present value of the property may be had from the fact that it included the south side of Colorado Street from Fair Oaks to the Santa Fe tracks.
1887 -- Building plans were drawn and work was started on the new school, the present Wilson School. From 1887, the year of its completion, to 1891, it was a sort of district school.
1891 -- The people passed the High School Provision Bill. That was the beginning of the real Pasadena High School. It was then called the Wilson High School in honor of the man who donated the ground for the building. Mr. Will S. Monroe was the superintendent, and he also taught the science classes. There were seven other teachers. In the first year of its existence, the school was given the rank of an accredited school by both Stanford and California. The graduating class of the first year numbered twelve. The names of some of the graduates are quite interesting, among them being Annie L. Brush, Carleton E. Durrell, William H. Linny, LeRoy D. Ely, Alva D. McCoy, Leonora Schopbach and Carl C. Thomas.
1893 -- The Wilson School continued to grow very rapidly. The number of pupils had increased to one hundred and twenty-three, with a graduating class of sixteen. Also the first year of Throop Polytechnic Institute and many students entered that school, the graduating class of the first year numbering sixteen.
1895 -- There were two hundred enrolled in Throop and thirty-six in the graduating class. During the early history of both Throop and Pasadena High School, very few students dropped out during the High School course.
1895 -- The first school paper published in Pasadena made its appearance. It was called the "Bee" and was written by hand.
1896-1898 -- Mr. Ashley, Mr. Owen and Mr. Fall all came to Pasadena High. Mr. Ely, Mr. Hamilton and Miss Knoch came soon after. The school was composed of three hundred students. The routine was the same as that of a grammar school today.There were two daily recesses besides the hour for lunch. The students marched in and out in lines, the boys and the girls marching separately. There were three courses with very arbitrary divisions. The literary course was composed of those who took Latin but no Greek. The scientific course comprised those who took neither Latin nor Greek. In the classical course were those who took both Latin and Greek. Students graduated on sixteen credits with no requirements except as above. One teacher usually taught two or more subjects.
The student activities at that time are worthy of notice. "The Item" as the school paper had come to be called, was seven by four inches in dimensions and a few pages thick. The whole paper bristled with advertisements which entirely filled the covers, inside and out, as well as the joke sections. "The Annual" was of the same dimensions and about one-fourth of an inch thick.
When the Wilson building was erected, a great number of protests were made because the people thought it would be years before a building of its size would be necessary. The school grew very rapidly and was soon crowded.
1901 -- Mr. Ely became principal.
1903 -- The Trustees began looking for a new site for the High School. After considerable delay, the land on Walnut between Euclid and Los Robles was bought. After much careful planning, a building was erected which would be ample "for years to come", as one of the men who dedicated it said.
1904 (Fall) -- The building contained about thirty recitation and office rooms. It was ready for the opening of school.
1910 -- Meanwhile the school continued to expand and one by one, the bungalows began to appear on the campus. It seemed as if the buildings could no longer house the school.
1911 (Summer) -- The School Board leased the property of Throop Institute on the corner of Raymond and Chestnut, and merging the two schools, made Pasadena High a polytechnic school. This relieved the crowded condition, as Throop had never been crowded. That summer also saw the beginning of the campaign for voting bonds for $450,000 for new buildings. The voters chose the Rose Villa Site as the location for the buildings and upon these the work started at once. The opposition, however, was very strong. Many people objected to paying taxes on so large an expenditure of money, because it had been understood when the Walnut Street building was built, that it was large enough for many years to come.
1911-1912 -- The school activities showed the real strength of a united Pasadena High School. The football team was a team of stars with such men as "Tiny" Jones, Herman Siefert, "Chuck" Biedebach, "Bill' Tavenor, "Hod" Chambers, and "Puss" McDowell. Cartzdafner, Hobson, Odell and others gave L.A. High a close race for the debating championship, losing by one-third of a point.
1912 (May) -- The dedication and cornerstone ceremonies of the new buildings took place. The cornerstone was laid in the southwest corner of the Horace Mann Building. The stone was laid by the Masonic Lodge. The Agassiz and Addams buildings were then beginning to take form and the shop building was just started.
1912 (Fall) -- When school opened Mr. Jerome O. Cross, the new Principal, took up his work
as Mr. LeRoy D. Ely's successor. With him came a number of new teachers. At the beginning of the year
plans were formulated for a Student Body Organization. The students voted upon various forms of government, choosing the commission form. A constitution was drawn up and adopted. After a hot campaign, the following five commissioners were elected: Catherine Wright, Welfare; Albert McEuen, Athletics; Fred Gartz, Finance; Paul Fussell, Publications; George Stewart, Debating. Later in the year Harrison Baker succeeded Gartz, who was unable to continue in school. Meanwhile, under Coach Diggins, a fine football team was developed. Although only one game was lost, the team was unable, technically, to claim the championship. The baseball team, after tying with Glendale, finally won the championship. The track team also won the County Meet. The tennis and debating teams had very successful seasons. At the end of the year the Student Body elected the officers for the year 1913-1914. These officers are given elsewhere.
1913 -- The Administration Building was finished in time for the Senior Class Play and Commencement exercises.
To be continued...
Sources: Nutt, Donovan. "History of the Pasadena High School." The Item Annual. 1914.
Also: Jamgochian, George. "Chronology of Early Education in Pasadena: 1874-1930s." Librarian, Pasadena City College in Honor of Pasadena's 125th Birthday Celebration.
Location: Locked case. Yearbooks. Archives Room. History of PCC-PJC-PHS.
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