A History of Pioneer School District

The first known building within the area that later would become the town of Grangeville was a schoolhouse built in 1870. the location was at the northwest corner of Grangeville Boulevard and 14th where the mini-mart is now (Lot 1, Block 9 of the town of Grangeville map). When informed by the county that no money was available to build a school, the settlers collected money from the few residents, hauled the lumber and shakes from Visalia and the Sierras, and raised the schoolhouse themselves. The building is believed to have been approximately 16 by 18 feet. The building was placed flat on the ground with no underpinnings. As stated by Mrs. Sarah Railsback, one of the school’s first pupils, “It was not founded on rock, but on sand. The winds came and blew against our house and dug a great hole beneath it half the size of the building. It had to be moved for security, but that was a small matter in those transitory days. The stovepipe through the roof made a fine focal point for the flying ants which occasionally came forth in swarms, gathering at the highest point, coming down upon us in such numbers that the teacher and pupils simply had to get out.” Another student of the time, Mrs. William Ogden, give the same account of the blowing and the swarms of flying ants.

In 1874 the second schoolhouse was being built on two acres just south of the town boundary line (Lot 11, Section 28, on the Grangeville Tract map of 1897). It is possible, that school was held in a newly constructed Grange Hall for part of the 1874-75 school year. The board of trustees paid $20 for the two acres located 800 feet south of Grangeville Boulevard on the east side of 14th Avenue, known as Lindsey Street at that time. School was held in the new building from 1875 to 1883. A good reason for the Pioneer School District buying the two acres south of Grangeville was the fact that the combined schoolhouse and Grange Hall had been built on pubic land, which had been promised to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. The Land Patent for Section 21 where the Hall/School was located was not issued to the Southern Pacific Railroad until May 1879.

The trustees of the Pioneer School District sold the two acres mentioned above on Sept. 25, 1883, for $450 nine years after they bought it. Four days before they sold, the board of trustees bought 3.39 acres for $500, which is a portion of the present site of the Pioneer Elementary School.

It is appropriate at this time to give credit to Mr. Don Ross. He undertook the mission of re-establishing the property lines of Grangeville after they had become somewhat convoluted when the railroad line through Grangeville was diverted to Hanford. The Grangeville Tract map recorded in 1897 was reputed to be an accurate representation of the subdivision of the land at that time. The land was sold as divided by Title Deeds. Only a small portion of the old “Town of Grangeville” was sold as it was originally subdivided in 1874.

In a letter to the author April 18, 1985, Mr. Ross stated, “In 1973 I undertook the largest project of my life — the remapping of Grangeville. Over a period of five years and five separate ‘Reversions to Acreage,’ I totally destroyed the entire town of Grangeville, the First Addition to Grangeville, and much of the Grangeville Tract. Today the north portion of Grangeville is legally subdivided as you see it on the Assessor’s Map. For the first time in over a 100 years, the people have clear title to their land — all the unwanted streets and alleys were reverted to acreage.” The location of early school buildings were determined as a direct result of Don Ross’ relentless pursuit of the correct boundary lines of the community.

Marie Hayden Miller had gone through eight grammar grades at the school. When not yet 20 years old she returned to teach the third and fourth grades. Mr. Clyde Denham was the principal at that time. Her salary was $85 per month. She wrote the following in the 1976 Retired Teachers Association Commemorative Book, Pride In America, “My second year teaching (1918) was a step up in the world. It was at Grangeville. At this time the schoolhouse was a two-story, white frame building with two rooms upstairs and two down, and a long staircase in the hall with a beautiful smooth banister, which was always a temptation to would-be ‘sliders.’ The height of ambition of pupils of the lower floor was to be asked to climb that wonderful, high staircase and ring the bell in the upstairs belfry. The plumbing was outdoors ‘Chic Sales’ type with hand pumps for our water supply. We did have a janitor to do the cleaning. We also had a horse barn for those arriving by horseback or buggy.” Perhaps the “step up” referred to by Mrs. Miller was due to the fact that her monthly salary was increased from the $75 she was paid at the King School the year before.

The two-story building was replaced about 1919. The new facility was a Spanish style stucco building with red roof tiles. There were four rooms separated by open patios and a center auditorium with a stage, an office, and storage rooms. The building also had indoor plumbing and running water. A large sign in front of the building announced this as “GRANGEVILLE SCHOOL,” with a smaller sign stating it was a “Standard School of Kings County.” The meaning of the smaller sign is unknown, although it appeared in front of many schools of the time. According to Jeanette Powell (Griswold), principal of Lucerne School in 1941, three rooms were built just north of the stucco building to accommodate increased enrollment and classes moved onto the Grangeville campus upon unionization. In order to placate those unhappy with the Lucerne-Grangeville unionization in 1940, the school henceforth has been referred to as the Pioneer Elementary School. The school enrollment after unionization was 182.

The Spanish style stucco building was torn down in the late 1960s. It was replaced with six contemporary classrooms, a multipurpose room and an office. Dr. Gerald Wilkerson, superintendent of the district in 1970 reported that the district received a grant from the state to renovate the three classrooms built in 1940. The state provided these funds to districts to rehabilitate buildings that were at least 30 years old. The district now had an average daily attendance of 252. Hugh Lee replaced Wilkerson when he retired. Pioneer Union Elementary School District became the county’s first Charter school during Lee’s administration. Parents, particularly in the Hanford School District, became anxious for their children to attend the rural school with its innovative approach to education. Interdistrict attendance agreements were a constant item on each school board’s agenda. Needless to say, some very interesting reasons were given why the permit should be granted.

Subdivisions were being approved on the outskirts of the school district near the Hanford Elementary school boundaries. The Pioneer District began to purchase portable school buildings to take care of the increase in students from all sources. When a large subdivision was approved north of Fargo Avenue the board was encouraged by Grangeville citizens to cede 40 or so acres to Hanford Elementary “to preserve the rural character” of the school district. This helped for awhile but the relentless growth to the north of Hanford is still continuing to this date. The enrollment of Pioneer Union Elementary School District in 2001 was nearly 1,200. The teaching staff numbered 54. There are two sites. The original site provides for the elementary school and a site on North 11th Avenue is dedicated to the middle school.