A photo postcard of Van Nuys Grammar School,
built in 1912, was enough to spark another road trip. What had taken its place?
A quick internet search proved fruitful.
The LAUSD website included an early history of the school. Click HERE to read the
history that was written by Oletha Sterns, the school’s principal from 1924 to
1953. When she became principal
children were bussed in from five miles in every direction! Be sure to check
out her explanation of why the eucalyptus grew so tall, and also the “highly
anticipated joy” that every A6 class looked forward to in the early years.
According to Sterns, the 1912 grammar school
was demolished following the 1933 earthquake. Thanks to the Los Angeles Public Library, patrons are able to access the historical Los Angeles Times archive via their ProQuest database. An August
11, 1912 article in the Times
featured a photo of the cornerstone being laid for the $50,000 grammar school. Sterns mentioned that the original school’s cornerstone was
inset into the rebuilt school in 1935. So I took a trip out to the ‘new’ Van Nuys Elementary
School at 6464 Sylmar Avenue. The
cornerstone, to the left of the front entrance was easy to find.
As an added bonus: Don’t miss the beautiful old
and gnarled Australian Tea Tree, or Leptospermum, in front of the school. It is right at the corner of Sylmar
& Gilmore. If you’re lucky it
may still be in bloom!
3 comments:
Great stuff Tiffney. keep it coming.
Nice post - thank you for this information.
Just thought about this tree, as my mother told me it was a gift to the school when she was going there, back in the days where van nuys had many empty dirt lots where kids would play. Glad to see the tree is still living.
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