Astoria's first school, started in 1851, was of necessity private,
owing to the fact that the school law, passed in 1849, was practically
inoperative, and, in consequence, no public money was available. In
the summer of 1851 the Rev. C. O. Hosford, a Methodist minister, at
the earnest solicitation of some dozen parents, opened a school near
the corner of Eighth and Bond streets, in a small two-room building,
erected for use as dwelling house for the teacher, and schoolhouse.[2]
This little pioneer school had an enrollment of ten pupils, and was
supported by private subscription. Public sentiment favored a public
school, and its modifying influence is seen at this time. No tuition
was charged the individual pupil, but the parents contributed toward
the support of the school each according to his means rather than in
proportion to the number of children he sent to the school. Mr. V.
Boelling, in addition to furnishing the schoolhouse and residence for
the teacher free of charge, contributed twenty of the forty dollars
paid monthly to the teacher.[3] The school was in session during the
months of June, July, August, and September.[4]
It is probable that between the closing of this school and the
starting of the public school proper there were other semi-public
schools.[5] Private schools were a necessity in Upper Astoria, owing
to the small number of families there and the lack of means of
communication between the two parts of the town. There were at least
two private schools here prior to 1859, and they were patronized by
the children of three families.[6] That this was done in at least one
case from necessity, rather than choice, is shown by the fact that one
of the patrons of these schools, T. P. Powers, a few years later, was
the prime mover in the establishment of the Upper Astoria public
school.[7] Miss Pope and Mrs. H. B. Morse were two of the teachers
employed in these schools.
In 1864 the first school that was in any sense a rival of the public
school was started. The Grace Church Parish School became the rallying
point for the first opposition to public education. This support alone
would perhaps not have been sufficient to maintain it; but it also
filled a place in the educational field which the public school seemed
unable to occupy. That there was a real need for the school is
apparent from the class of pupils that attended it. Large pupils who,
owing to lack of early advantages, were far behind in their classes
and who would have preferred to remain away rather than be classed
with children much younger than themselves, and pupils advanced beyond
the studies offered at the time by the district school, made up a
large part of the number in attendance.[8] Latin, algebra, natural
philosophy, and other advanced subjects were taught, and pupils for
these studies came from the public school which had just previous to
this time decided to exclude all branches beyond those usually taught
in a district school.[9]
This school was opened in the old "Methodist Church" situated on the
corner of Fifteenth Street and Franklin Avenue, and was in charge of
the rector of the Episcopal Church, Rev. T. H. Hyland. Mrs. Hyland,
who had been a teacher in the East, taught most of the classes.[8] The
school was supported entirely by tuition fees which were $7 per
quarter of thirteen weeks. Three quarters were taught each year, and
the attendance ranged between twenty and thirty pupils.[8]
Rev. Mr. Hyland was appointed to the Astoria parish while it was a
missionary station and so received no salary from the home
congregation. The parish school was started chiefly as a means of
revenue to help pay for the maintenance of the church.[8] Former
pupils testify to the excellence of the school and to the popularity
of its founders and teachers.
In 1866 the school moved to the rear of the church on Commercial
Street, between Eighth and Ninth, and continued regularly until the
departure of Rev. Mr. Hyland and wife in 1878.[8]
During the fall and winter of 1876-77 a night school, at which
bookkeeping, writing, and arithmetic were taught, was taught by Mr.
Kincaid in the Gray building.[10]
In 1878 there were at least four private schools in Astoria. Mrs.
Maxwell Young taught a school of twenty-five pupils in a building
where St. Mary's Hospital stands.[11] Miss Cora VanDusen taught a
summer session in the building near the southeast corner of Tenth and
Duane streets, which was rented by the school board and furnished to
Miss VanDusen free of charge during the vacation of the public
school.[12] When the public school opened in the fall this school was
moved to the room formerly occupied by the parish school. Professor
Worthington, principal of the public school, taught a private school
of six pupils. The fourth private school was taught by Miss Johnson.
The increase in the number of private schools was due to two causes:
dissatisfaction in some quarters with some action of the principal of
the "lower town school,"[11] and the great increase in the school
population. The latter cause was no doubt the more potent. At this
time there were over five hundred children of school age in Astoria.
In 1881-82 Miss Hewett conducted a private school at Grace Church,
with an average attendance of twenty-six pupils and an enrollment of
forty-six.
From 1886 to 1895 Miss Emma C. Warren conducted a private school on
Exchange Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth. This was by far the
largest and most pretentious private school ever opened in Astoria,
and yet represented only to a very small degree the idea antagonistic
to the public school. All the grammar grades were taught, and also
classes in advanced subjects, including Latin and German.[13] This
school occupied to a great extent the place that should have been
filled by a public high school. With the establishment of the high
school in 1890-91 its field of usefulness was greatly limited, and in
1895 it was merged into the high school by the employment of the
principal, Miss Warren, as the head of the department of English and
English Literature, and the entrance of most of the pupils of Miss
Warren's school into the high school.[13]