Picture from the Past
Schoolhouses once filled the Santa Cruz Mountains
By John S. Baggerly
During the past century, school boys were familiar with the rifle as protection against bears and wild boars and for downing game as a source of meat. Earlier boys participated in the Hatfield and McCoy feud of West Virginia. Even earlier--during the Revolutionary War--a group of young riflemen held a footbridge against King George's handsomely attired redcoats long enough for a rag-tag segment of George Washington's troops to escape and live to fight another day.
Locally, Santa Cruz Mountains schoolboys heard of a mother bear biting a hunk of Charles H. McKiernan's skull before he could reach his rifle. A photo of Mountain Charlie with his broad brimmed hat pulled down over his scar would become symbolic of Santa Cruz Mountain history.
When Billie J. and Reece C. Jensen published their softcover illustrated book, A Trip Through Time and The Santa Cruz Mountains, they gave attention to five mountain schools--Summit, Burrell, Highland, Wrights and Laurel.
The Jensens wrote: "One might wonder: why so many schools in such a small area? The equation was quite simple. Large families seemed to be in vogue in the late 1800s. The Schultheis family, for example, raised 12 children and the Adams family six." It was reported that the class size in the one-room schools ranged from 25 to 30 students and that it was usually filled to capacity.
On June 6, 1885, the mountain schools' board issued the following orders:
* That posts be set in the school grounds for hitching horses;
* That all hanging and dangerous tree branches be cut into fuel;
* That pipes be bought to improve the water supply;
* That no prayer meetings be held in the school-house except when taken in charge by some responsible adult person.
Fairview School, shown in today's photograph, stood at the junction of Skyline Boulevard and the Saratoga Turnpike (now Big Basin Way). It drew students from Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
Fairview came into existence to take care of the children of the Hubbard and Carmichael Lumber Mill. For most of the years it existed, the teacher was an older lady, Miss Sterling, from Boulder Creek. When the mill closed, the school was discontinued.
The late Emma Stolte Garrod, who grew up at the top of Black Road, wrote her memories in One Life, Mine, in which she described the tiny schools that came and went. Some teachers lived at the Stolte home, such as fun-loving Alma Oberhous, who asked very little from her students. She loved parties and picnics and was popular with young people. Today, Emma Stolte's son, Vince Garrod, heads Garrod farm and vineyards in the Saratoga Hills.
The one-room school houses of the Santa Cruz Mountains are all long gone now.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
The one-room Fairview School served several generations of students from mountain communities.
