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Short History of 1925 Newhall School and Auditorium.



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Webmaster's note.

This 1939 history of the 1925 Newhall school and auditorium was published in conjunction with news articles about the school and auditorium burning down three days earlier. This history says the auditorium was "the only public meeting place" in town, but that is incorrect. One popular place for business meetings and social gatherings in the 1920s was the Masonic building, aka Hap-A-Lan Hall, at the corner of Market Street and Railroad Avenue. The March 1928 St. Francis Dam Disaster knocked it out of commission when it was used as a morgue and subsequently razed. But the structure was reborn in 1932 as a combination courthouse (downstairs) and Masonic lodge (upstairs), where meetings and functions resumed in the 1930s. Granted, the Newhall school auditorium had a markedly greater capacity — but it wasn't the "only" public meeting place.


Newhall School Building Was Erected in 1925 and 1930.

The Newhall grammar school building was erected in 1925 under the trusteeship of A.B. Wertz, Ralph Carr and Fred Lamkin. Arthur W. Angel was the architect.

The front section and the auditorium were the first units to be put up, and these proved ample to supply school needs for a few years only. In 1930 the north and south wings were added, making the building as shown in the architects drawing.

The building, although out of date by some standards, and rapidly nearing the limits of its capacity due to the constantly increasing attendance in Newhall, was still one of the best school buildings in the country. It was the largest structure in Newhall, and the auditorium the only public meeting place.

Due to the addition of play and recreation facilities about the school it had become a definite center of the community life and activity.

The cost of the building was in the neighborhood of $65,000 [.]

News story courtesy of Tricia Lemon Putnam.


FOURTH NEWHALL SCHOOL 1925-1939

SEE ALSO:
• 1939 FIRE


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School Opens 1925

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1st Commencement 1926

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Student Body 1928/1929

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Commencement 1929

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Quad Area 1930

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Kindergarten 1932

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1st Grade 1933

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Thanksgiving ~1935

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Miss Frisbee's Class 12/1935

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Tom Thumb Wedding ~1936

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School Play? 12/1936

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Arabian Nights ~1937

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Teachers Bertha & Emma Blum 1937

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8th Grade 1938

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Patricia Cook's Diploma 1939

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History 2-17-1939

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