In March 1886, the Board of Supervisors created a new school district. That took from portions of the Piedmont, Peralta, and Fruitvale districts representing about 44 children.
Students pose with their teacher, in this photo and of the six children sitting down. Walter Wood is 2nd from the left, his brother Alfred Wood is 4th from the left, Harry W. Logan is seated on the far right, and his brother Maurice Logan (the painter) is standing on the far right. The Logans and the Woods lived at Lake Temescal.
c 1900-1910 Oakland History Room
The new district was called the Hays School District in honor of the late Colonel John Coffee Hays.
The superintendent appointed the following residents of the area as trustees:
- W.H. Mead
- J.H. Medau
- Mrs. Susan Hays
Land Donated
Hetty S. Henshaw gave the district the land for the school. The Montclair Firehouse was built on the spot in 1927, using the front part of the lot.
New School House Built
Requests for bids to build the school were made in July of 1886.
The completed school was small at only 32×36 feet, with just one classroom. It was Gothic in design with a graceful-looking bell tower. It had two entrances, one for the boys and the other for the girls, with each entry having a 6×6 vestibule. The sash bars of the windows are all horizontal, copying the style of European schools.
The construction cost about $2,500 and took about two months to build.
The architects were Goodrich & Newton.
Dedication
The dedication of the school was held in October 1886. It was attended by most of the families that lived in the area. Judge EM Gibson and W.H Mead made opening remarks. Some of the families in attendance:
- The S.R. Andrews Family
- The E.M.Gibson Family
- The J. Hampel Family
- The W.H. Mead Family
- The J.H. Meadu Family
- The S.F. Morrell Family
The students from the school provided entertainment under the direction of their teacher Miss Lucy Law. The following students performed:
- Clara Gibson
- Gussie Gibson
- Carrie Mead
- Daisy Mead
- Susie Mead
- Mattie Mead
- Edith Medau
- Louise Medau
Graduation 1901
Hays School was the scene of brightness and beauty on Friday, June 14, 1901. Friends and family gathered to witness the closing exercises. The four graduates were:
- Jessie Logan
- Robert Shepherd
- August Carson
- Scott Monroe
School Trustees
In 1904, Mr. S. Morrell and Mr. Johnson were appointed to fill the vacancies caused by George Hunt’s and G.W. Logan’s removal.
Attendance for the year ending 1911 for the Hays School was 11 students.
School Closes
The school was closed around 1913, and the building was demolished. It was probably due to the Oakland, Antioch, and Eastern Railway construction, later known as the Sacramento Northern. For more on the Sacramento Northern, please go here. The East Bay Hills Project
Montclair Firehouse
The Montclair firehouse was built on the same site in 1927. The storybook-style building was designed by Eldred E. Edwards of the Oakland Public Works Department.
Montclair district of Oakland, California. 1934, ohrphoto.districts.031.
Oakland. Buildings Oakland Public Library, Oakland History Room.
Misc Articles
Controversy
Wow…the ‘olden’ of our stomping grounds. It is interesting to see the different spellings of Medau/Meadu.
The different spellings make it hard to catch everything when doing research. Shephard or Shepherd and Hays or Hayes are a couple others.