The Three Rs

Written by Bakersfield Magazine

The history of American public education is fascinating and it can be seen in the chronicles of our own area’s rich history.

We’ve come a long way from the early days of the three Rs, both as a nation and a county. Our great-great-grandparents were educated in a very different time and place, as there was little to no state-sanctioned curriculum before the mid-nineteenth century. Not to mention the fact that there were few educational resources on hand. Teachers were few and far between and would take charge of one-room classrooms which were sparsely populated with children from the community. Or rather, children who were fortunate enough to go to school.

“The public school as we know it was born in the mid-nineteenth century,” reads an article from PBS.org’s series on the foundation of the American public school. “Its founders called it the ‘common’ school. Common schools were funded by local property taxes, charged no tuition, were open to all white children, were governed by local school committees, and were subject to a modest amount of state regulation. They arose through two decades of debate prior to the Civil War in the Northeast and the Midwest of what is now the United States and, later in the nineteenth century, in the South and the West.”

The history of American public education is fascinating and it can be seen in the chronicles of our own area’s history.

Kern County, having incorporated in 1866, was relatively small and the communities were few and far between. Schools were a luxury for those children who were brought to California during the Gold Rush. For example, the children living in what is now Inyokern were taking lessons in churches and saloons before a schoolhouse could be built. And, prior to the county’s formation, Mrs. Ellen Baker (wife of Colonel Baker) established an informal and private school for her children and those of her neighbors in 1863. In 1865, another school was opened on the Keith Ranch, which was two miles south of Bakersfield at that time. The school itself was only about 25 square feet and students were charged a tuition fee of $2.50. It was just four years later that the first public school opened at 15th and “I” streets.

Again, according to PBS.org, “In the nineteenth century, the American classroom was sparsely decorated and furnished. School design was simple, expressing the frugality of a largely rural, agricultural economy. Rural communities had few resources to expend on education, and there was a lack of commercially available products for schools. Often the school would be open only for a few months of the year, usually when children were not needed to work at home or on the farm.”

That was plainly the case at the school on Keith Ranch. A man from Los Angeles named P.R. Hamilton was recruited to teach what would be a three-month term in the schoolhouse. There were 20 students that learned from a small selection of textbooks—Eaton’s Arithmetic, Cornell’s Geography, Wilson’s Readers, and Wilson’s Spellers and Histories. There was no globe or map. The school was supported by contributions. Hamilton left when, after the county was organized, the new Superintendent of Schools requested that all teachers submit to examination.

There were numerous schools outside the Bakersfield area in the late 1800s that had to do the best they could to teach young minds. For example, New River School was established in 1880 and it’s been said that the school was created to teach the children of families working with the Kern County Land Company. The school operated for 20 years before it became a part of the Buena Vista District.

Still, change was coming for schools in our area. As more people flocked to Kern County to tap into the growing oil and agricultural businesses, more children were in need of a formalized education.

Bakersfield was growing steadily.

It’s been noted that in 1890 the population was about 2,600. And by 1900 it jumped to more than 4,800. During the 1896 school year, Bakersfield had just two schools: Emerson School and the H Street School with a combined student population of nearly 400 pupils and 11 teaching staff. It was the discovery of oil along the Kern River that brought people to our area in droves.

So many people, in fact, that by 1910 Bakersfield’s population had skyrocketed 300 percent to 12,700 and we had over 1,500 school-aged children.

Nowhere was the need more apparent than in the oil communities north of Bakersfield. The Aztec School District was created in 1901 by a board of supervisors to cater to the children of oil field workers. That first year, the school averaged just 46 students daily, but by the 1909-1910 school year, 187 children were packing the schoolhouse.

It was obvious that a second school was needed. Toltec School District was created in 1910 and staffed three teachers that first year.

And just a year later, Petroleum School District was formed, though not without a few problems. The land upon which the schoolhouse was to be built was deemed too valuable. That is, people realized the land was rich in nutrients and would make for great growing fields so the price was set higher and the school organizers were unable to afford the added cost. A new site was selected.

As the years went on, both the Petroleum School and Toltec were consolidated with Aztec, mainly because attendance began to dwindle at each school.

In 1932, six students made up the last graduating class at the Petroleum School. It was also in 1932 that Toltec closed.

It was said that the oil and ag fields created transient students since many families were moving to where the oil was and many others were needing to work in the homes or the fields to provide for their families. By 1961, the student attendance at Aztec had dipped to 43 on a daily basis.

Of course, by 1961, Bakersfield and Kern County as a whole had a long list of primary and secondary schools to cover the population and accommodate the baby boomers. And the state had created a more formalized curriculum for educators to follow that gave all children a chance to learn in a structured building.

No more ink wells or saloon classrooms for us.

All photos provided by Kern County Library

Article appeared in our 28-6 Issue - February 2012