Pinedale Elementary School

Pinedale Elementary School
Location 300 S. Main Street
Pinedale, Arizona
Coordinates 34°18′16″N 110°14′14″W / 34.30444°N 110.23722°W / 34.30444; -110.23722Coordinates: 34°18′16″N 110°14′14″W / 34.30444°N 110.23722°W / 34.30444; -110.23722
Area 3.5 acres (1.4 ha)
Built 1939 (1939)
Architect Ella Capps
NRHP Reference # 01001301[1]
Added to NRHP March 8, 2002

Pinedale Elementary School is a historic school building located in Pinedale, Arizona surrounded by Ponderosa Pine trees. It is owned by Navajo County and leased to Pinedale, Heritage, Inc. a 501c(3). The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.[1]

Activities at the former school include:

Weekly yoga, cardio exercises and Eating healthy Club meet there and are open to the public with a $1 donation for each meeting.

Pinedale public library is located in the adjacent newer building. It is open 15 hours per week and is part of the Navajo County Library District.

The building has an auditorium with oak wood floors and knotty pine walls. The stage has hosted many events over the years. The former school is available for family reunions, weddings and other group events.

History

The school was built by local community members in the 1930s. Families donated their time and money to provide a larger school and newer facility. The Show Low School District took over the school in the 1980s. There was much controversy surrounding this take over as they claimed ownership of the land and building which was built without tax payer money and by the blood, sweat and tears of the local residents. They feared their school would eventually be closed and their children forced to ride school buses to other schools out of town. That fear was realized around 2004 when the Show Low School District closed this school - according to them - forever.

This school was a two-room school house. Children were taught the information of all 3 grades for 3 years until they advanced to the next classroom with 3 more grades. Grades 7–12 were bussed into Show Low schools. Because of the small classes and learning style most of the valedictorians and Salutatorians of Show Low High School were from Pinedale and neighboring Clay Springs and Linden. That tradition still holds true today. From that school has come judges, attorneys, doctors, teachers and others who completed college and higher education.

When the school district closed the school, Pinedale Heritage, Inc. was formed under the direction of Pete Peterson, Linda De Young and Danita Keith to try and get back what was believed to belong to the community. The school district refused to turn the school over to them. After much pressure they agreed to donate it to the county under the condition that no school ever be allowed to held there. The school district refused to have formal learning their again, but because learning is so important to Pinedale residents they made their own library with thousands of books donated by local residents.

References

  1. 1 2 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, March 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.