# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 4/The Educational History of Astoria, Oregon

THE EDUCATIONAL HISTORY OF ASTORIA, OREGON.
The study of the school history of Astoria is of interest to the student of education in that it reveals a condition different from that of some of the other cities of Oregon, particularly those of the Willamette Valley. In the latter, private and public schools struggled for the mastery, with the private school far in the lead for many years. In Astoria, on the contrary, the public school idea had a firm hold from the beginning and asserted itself as soon as the establishment of a public school was possible. The history of Astoria's educational progress, covering a period of fifty-two years, is chiefly the story of the beginning and gradual development of a system of public schools. There is traceable, however, something of the conflict, so prominent elsewhere, between the public and the private school idea.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
Astoria's first school, started in 1851, was of necessity private, owing to the fact that the school law, passed in 1849, was practically inoperative, and, in consequence, no public money was available. In the summer of 1851 the Rev. C. O. Hosford, a Methodist minister, at the earnest solicitation of some dozen parents, opened a school near the corner of Eighth and Bond streets, in a small two-room building, erected for use as dwelling house for the teacher, and schoolhouse. This little pioneer school had an enrollment of ten pupils, and was ​supported by private subscription. Public sentiment favored a public school, and its modifying influence is seen at this time. No tuition was charged the individual pupil, but the parents contributed toward the support of the school each according to his means rather than in proportion to the number of children he sent to the school. Mr. V. Boelling, in addition to furnishing the schoolhouse and residence for the teacher free of charge, contributed twenty of the forty dollars paid monthly to the teacher. The school was in session during the months of June, July, August, and September.
It is probable that between the closing of this school and the starting of the public school proper there were other semi-public schools. Private schools were a necessity in Upper Astoria, owing to the small number of families there and the lack of means of communication between the two parts of the town. There were at least two private schools here prior to 1859, and they were patronized by the children of three families. That this was done in at least one case from necessity, rather than choice, is shown by the fact that one of the patrons of these schools, T. P. Powers, a few years later, was the prime mover in the establishment of the Upper Astoria public school. Miss Pope and Mrs. H. B. Morse were two of the teachers employed in these schools.
In 1864 the first school that was in any sense a rival of the public school was started. The Grace Church Parish School became the rallying point for the first opposition to public education. This support alone would perhaps not have been sufficient to maintain it; but it ​also filled a place in the educational field which the public school seemed unable to occupy. That there was a real need for the school is apparent from the class of pupils that attended it. Large pupils who, owing to lack of early advantages, were far behind in their classes and who would have preferred to remain away rather than be classed with children much younger than themselves, and pupils advanced beyond the studies offered at the time by the district school, made up a large part of the number in attendance. Latin, algebra, natural philosophy, and other advanced subjects were taught, and pupils for these studies came from the public school which had just previous to this time decided to exclude all branches beyond those usually taught in a district school.
This school was opened in the old "Methodist Church" situated on the corner of Fifteenth Street and Franklin Avenue, and was in charge of the rector of the Episcopal Church, Rev. T. H. Hyland. Mrs. Hyland, who had been a teacher in the East, taught most of the classes. The school was supported entirely by tuition fees which were $7 per quarter of thirteen weeks. Three quarters were taught each year, and the attendance ranged between twenty and thirty pupils.
Rev. Mr. Hyland was appointed to the Astoria parish while it was a missionary station and so received no salary from the home congregation. The parish school was started chiefly as a means of revenue to help pay for the maintenance of the church. Former pupils testify to the excellence of the school and to the popularity of its founders and teachers.
​During the fall and winter of 1876-77 a night school, at which bookkeeping, writing, and arithmetic were taught, was taught by Mr. Kincaid in the Gray building.
In 1878 there were at least four private schools in Astoria. Mrs. Maxwell Young taught a school of twenty-five pupils in a building where St. Mary's Hospital stands. Miss Cora VanDusen taught a summer session in the building near the southeast corner of Tenth and Duane streets, which was rented by the school board and furnished to Miss VanDusen free of charge during the vacation of the public school. When the public school opened in the fall this school was moved to the room formerly occupied by the parish school. Professor Worthington, principal of the public school, taught a private school of six pupils. The fourth private school was taught by Miss Johnson.
The increase in the number of private schools was due to two causes: dissatisfaction in some quarters with some action of the principal of the "lower town school," and the great increase in the school population. The latter cause was no doubt the more potent. At this time there were over five hundred children of school age in Astoria.
In 1881-82 Miss Hewett conducted a private school at Grace Church, with an average attendance of twenty-six pupils and an enrollment of forty-six.
From 1886 to 1895 Miss Emma C. Warren conducted a private school on Exchange Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth. This was by far the largest and most pretentious private school ever opened in Astoria, and yet represented only to a very small degree the idea antagonistic to the public school. All the grammar grades were ​taught, and also classes in advanced subjects, including Latin and German. This school occupied to a great extent the place that should have been filled by a public high school. With the establishment of the high school in 1890-91 its field of usefulness was greatly limited, and in 1895 it was merged into the high school by the employment of the principal, Miss Warren, as the head of the department of English and English Literature, and the entrance of most of the pupils of Miss Warren's school into the high school.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
The earliest schools of Astoria were supported by private funds, yet the payment of any fixed sum was not made a condition for entrance. They were supported by private subscription for the benefit of all the children of the town.
In 1854 District No. 1 was established, and included a large tract of land bounded by Young's River, from the falls to its juncture with Columbia, the Columbia River and a zigzag line starting near Thirty-eighth Street, and connecting the Columbia River with the Young's River Falls. To this district, in October of the same year, was paid the sum of $20, all the school money then available. The next year, under the revised law of 1853-54, the county fund yielded more, and District No. 1 received $104.77. A part of this amount was from tax, and the rest from fines.
The first school taught after the district was organized, as near as can be ascertained (there are no records in existence), was taught in what was known as the "Old ​Methodist Church," a building erected in 1853-54, on a piece of land donated for church and school purposes, by James Welch, to the trustees of the Methodist Church. J. W. Wayne was probably the first teacher in the district. Nothing is known of the condition of the school, except that there were very few in attendance, and the school was in session only a very few months. Miss Liza Lincoln, Mrs. Hill, an English lady, and Mr. Moore, are names associated with the early schools, but the exact time of their service is not known, but all taught school some time before 1856.
In that year Judge A. A. Skinner took charge of the public school in a building near Bain's Mill, known as the "Holman House." He was assisted by Mrs. Skinner, nee Miss Lincoln. The next year the public school was taught by Mr. Brown in the "old hospital" building, situated between Ninth and Tenth streets, on Duane. Mr. Brown is remembered for his skill in handling the large boys. He was succeeded by Mr. Maxwell.
Up to this time the district had been without a schoolhouse, but in 1859 a building was erected on the corner of Ninth and Exchange streets. J. T. Maulsby taught the first term of school in it in 1860. The school was now too large for one teacher and the following year the board engaged the services of J. D. Deardorff and wife. He was a man of ability in his line of work and was well liked by both parents and pupils. During the next term he was assisted by Mrs. Dr. Owens-Adair, and the year following by Mr. Williamson, a college bred man, who ​assisted much in building up the reputation of the school. Under Mr. Deardorff's management a nine or ten months' term was taught each year, and there were between ninety and one hundred pupils in attendance. Astoria was maintaining an expensive school, and the money for its support was raised almost entirely by tax and private subscription, as the money from the county school fund was inconsiderable at this time. This fund yielded to the district $132.50 in 1861, $149.80 in 1862, and $92.85 in 1863. There is no record of tuition ever having been charged the pupils of the district. While Mr. Deardorff taught advanced classes were formed and pupils who had finished the ordinary grades of the school were enabled to continue their education. Later opposition to these classes arose and finally the school board decided that only studies of the grammar grade should be taught. When this order was carried into effect, during Mr. R. K. Warren's term as teacher, a vigorous protest was made against it, and its enforcement caused much dissatisfaction.
The Grace Church Parish School had just been organized, and, no doubt, profited by the dissension in the ranks of the friends of the public school. The increasing burden of maintaining the school and the presence of the parish school ready to receive the advanced pupils, gave strength to the position of those who were opposed to teaching branches above the grade of the ordinary district school.
​In 1868–69 the average attendance in the public schools had dropped to eighty-four, caused, in all probability, by the exclusion of the advanced classes and their transfer to the Grace Church Parish School.
Mr. Finlayson and wife and Professor Robb were the teachers between 1865 and 1869. From 1869 to 1873 very little change in the condition of the school is noted, except that there was a slight increase in attendance due to the return to the policy of providing instruction for all who had finished the grammar grades. In 1872 the state school fund became available and District No. 1 received $110.80 in coin and $111.95 in currency.
In 1873 Prof. W. L. Worthington, a very able instructor, was elected principal, and remained several years. More than one hundred children were in attendance in 1873, and the citizens of Astoria were justly proud of their school. The Astorian in its initial number says: "We notice that the school is well supplied with maps, charts, dictionaries, gazetteers, atlases, etc. We doubt that any common school in Oregon is better supplied with such articles. * * The public school affords every opportunity for getting a good English education." The teachers were Professor Worthington, principal; Miss Watt and Miss Lawrence, assistants.
The history from 1873 is concerned chiefly with the rapid increase in the school population, the division of the district into six separate districts, the subsequent consolidation of all these districts, the final readjustment of the boundaries, so as to include only the schools within the corporate limits of Astoria, and the establishment of the high school, as the completion of the city's educational system.
​District No. 9, the "Upper Astoria" district, was established in 1868, but no school was taught here until 1874. Mrs. W. W. Parker, who taught the first term of school in the district, had a school of fifteen pupils, and received as compensation $75 per month and board. T. P. Powers organized the district, and when over seventy years of age taught a term of three months in this district in order that the right to draw school money should not be forfeited.
The population of Astoria in the two years between 1874-76 nearly doubled, owing to the rapid growth of the fishing industry, and the schools were not able to keep pace with this growth. In 1878 there were over two hundred pupils in actual attendance at the "lower schoolhouse." Professor Worthington, the principal, was assisted by Miss Brown, Miss McGregor, Miss Neale, and Miss Hewett. In the first, or highest grade, algebra, physiology, and natural philosophy were taught. The Astorian says of the school: "The public school of Astoria is divided into three grades, with three classes in each grade. There has been a written examination in three of the grades [probably classes]. In this examination great care has been taken to make it impossible for the pupils to derive any assistance from text-books or from friends."
This crowded condition lasted until 1880 when a temporary relief was afforded by the establishment of District No. 9 and the building of two of the six rooms of the Shirely school. A ten-mill tax was levied for this purpose.
The sudden increase in the school population brought with it such a large proportion of the county and state ​school fund that the money from this source, amounting to $1,953.67, paid the entire cost of the school during the year 1876, the six-mill tax not having been used. "The district is now out of debt, and has $250 cash on hand."
The erection of a new school building was the main question before the taxpayers at the school meeting of 1882. That it was a necessity was admitted by all. The Astorian said editorially: "There are three things Astoria needs—and we place them in their relative importance—a new schoolhouse, a flouring mill, and a new theater."
At the meeting held April 24, 1882, four mills for current expenses and five mills for building purposes were levied and a new schoolhouse ordered built. The present McClure is the result of that meeting.
District No. 26, known locally as Alderbrook, was established in 1890.
By a legislative act of 1892 the four districts, now included in the city schools, together with the schools at John Days and Walluski, were consolidated into one district of the first class. This arrangement proved unsatisfactory, and in 1899 the boundaries were again changed so as to exclude the two districts lying outside the corporate limits of the city.
During the fifty years that the public school system has been in existence the school population has increased an hundredfold. The distance between "upper" and "lower" Astoria, the rapid growth of the town during the seventies, made the division of the district almost a necessity. The gradual growing together of the two parts of the town making the interchange of classes possible ​31 and the consequent improvement of the schools with a lessening of the expense of maintaining them led to the consolidation in 1893 and the readjustment of the boundaries in 1899.
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
The high school is the result of a slow growth and its continued existence is due perhaps as much to indifference as to any very active sentiment in its favor. It started as an advanced grade of the public school when for financial reasons it was desired to keep as many pupils as possible in attendance. The presence of the large pupils and the quality of the work done gave the school a standing in outside districts and created a feeling of pride in the citizens of the town. The higher classes were disbanded in 1863 or 1864. The Marine Gazette thus comments: "During the past week we have noticed considerable discussion in doors and out about the village district school. * * It was generally admitted that the school of eighteen months ago, I think it was—at any rate the one that contained all the larger boys and girls of the village with several others from Clatsop Plains, Oysterville, etc.,—was the best school we had had for three years or even a longer period. * * About the time named the teacher was restricted as to the amount or kind of instruction to be given in the school to the so-called advanced pupils. This restriction caused the disbanding or dismissal of several classes of the largest and oldest pupils. They quit the school, dispersed, went home, or to other schools distant to our town." Advanced studies were restored later and became a recognized part of the course of study. The high school sentiment, stimulated no doubt by the record of the public for excellence in the past and to some extent by ​the desire to keep pace with the standard of scholarship set by the private schools, increased and resulted in the establishment of the present efficient high school in 1890 and 1891.
The grammar schools are loyally supported in spite of the high rate of taxation necessary to maintain them; but there is still a well defined sentiment against the maintenance of the high school at public expense, though this sentiment seems to be decreasing.
WHAT THE SCHOOL HISTORY OF ASTORIA REVEALS.
The earliest schools were semi-public, though supported entirely by private subscription. Public sentiment clearly favored the public school and secured its establishment so soon as conditions, including the necessary school laws, made it possible. The reason for the predominance of this sentiment in favor of the public schools can be found in the fact that many of the leaders in the development of the city came from the northern and middle western states, where the idea of public education had a firm hold. V. Boelling, S. T. McKean, W. W. Parker, Col. James Taylor, and later Capt. George Flavel, Mrs. H. B. Parker, John Hobson and many others were earnest advocates and liberal supporters of public schools.
The public school has had an almost uninterrupted growth from the beginning, and to-day shows the result of half a century of effort.
ALFRED A. CLEVELAND.
* ↑ An historical survey of Public Education in Eugene, Oregon, by Prof. Joseph Schafer, Quarterly, March, 1901.
* ↑ Letter of C. O. Hosford, January 22, 1903.
* ↑ Letter of C. O. Hosford, January 22, 1903.
* ↑ Ibid.
* ↑ Letter of E. C. Jeffers, February 3, 1903.
* ↑ Interview with Mr. Sam Adair.
* ↑ Interview with Mrs. Mary Leinweber.
* ↑ Interview with Rev. T. H. Hyland and wife.
* ↑ Marine Gazette, May 30, 1865.
* ↑ Weekly Astorian, December 18, 1876.
* ↑ Interview with Mrs. Young.
* ↑ Interview with Mrs. C. J. Trenchard, nee Miss VanDusen.
* ↑ Interview with Miss Warren.
* ↑ County Superintendent's Record Book No. 1, 1853-1874.
* ↑ Interview with J. M. Welch, and others.
* ↑ Deed Book No. l, Clatsop County.
* ↑ Interview with J. W. Welch.
* ↑ Interview with F. J. Taylor, and others.
* ↑ History of Oregon and Washington, Northwest Publishing Company, Vol. II, pp. 502-506.
* ↑ Letter of Mrs. W. W. Parker, December 12, 1902.
* ↑ County Superintendent’s Record Book No. 1, 1853-1874.
* ↑ May 30, 1865.
* ↑ Report of County Superintendent W. B. Gray, 1866.
* ↑ Report of State Superintendent to Governor Geo. L. Woods.
* ↑ Astorian, July 1, 1873.
* ↑ Letter of Mrs. W. W. Parker, December 12, 1902.
* ↑ Weekly Astorian, February 5, 1876.
* ↑ Weekly Aslorian, December 31, 1878.
* ↑ County Superintendent’s Record Book No. 1, 1853-1874.
* ↑ Weekly Astorian, April 8, 1876.
* ↑ Daily Astorian, April 4, 1882.
* ↑ Daily Astorian, April 25, 1882.
* ↑ Marine Gazette, May 30, 1865.
* ↑ An eleven-mill tax was lavied at the last school meeting.