Countdown to 2000: Schools

Noaki Schwartz

In the 1900s, the populations of the seaport town of Newport and the

farming communities that made up what is now Costa Mesa were sparse. It

was not surprising that by the end of the decade there were only a

handful of schools.

But this didn’t reflect a disinterest in education. Among the first few

scattered buildings that made up Newport -- a general store and post

office -- was Newport School.

The first school was built at 19th Street and Court Avenue by community

members with lumber donated by a local family. The school had a wood

stove to keep the students warm while they learned and a bucket of water

in the corner in case they became thirsty. Emma Moore of Little Rock,

Ark., was the school’s first teacher and taught 18 students in that

one-room schoolhouse.

The demand for education increased so quickly that by 1905, a $5,000 bond

was issued to finance a two-room school. The school was built on the

ocean front.

In 1908 it became apparent that the local community needed more schools.

Harper, one of the areas that made up Costa Mesa, was the next site for a

school.

On Jan. 31, the following appeared in an article in the Santa Ana

Register:

“SCHOOL IS CROWDED AT NEWPORT BEACH. Next year Newport Heights will have

a school of its own. The attendance at the public school is increasing.

There are two teachers and both rooms are crowded. The new pupils are

from the mesa, where new families have recently located on the small

tracts and long since thrown open to purchase. It seems to be only a

matter of time when a new district will be formed in the mesa. The county

superintendent has approved the petition for a new school district on the

Heights, and next September, school will be opened.”

Indeed, it was opened in the fall. Olivia Hoisington, was hired from Los

Angeles to teach. A farm house was remodeled and became affectionately

known as the “little green schoolhouse.”

Finally, toward the end of that same year, a large two-story building was

constructed on the northeast corner of 18th and Newport Boulevard. This

was the city’s first commercial building.

Sources:”Newport Beach: The First Century, 1888-1988,” James

Felton, Ed., 1988

“A Slice of Orange: The History of Costa Mesa,” Edrick J. Miller, 1970.