This photograph (ca 1965) of the Fair Park façade shows the changes made during the earthquake safety retrofit of 1934. The steel and original brick was covered with the stucco seen here. The original sign was preserved. This early retrofit preserved the handsome early buildings, the only Eagle Rock school buildings that were not torn down and replaced for earthquake safety in the 1970’s. -ERVHS
After the 1933 earthquake, classes were moved to the playground while damage was assessed. Although no significant damage was discovered in either masonry building it was determined that reinforcement was necessary. A WPA grant was obtained for the massive district wide rebuilding that was necessary. Steel was added to the supporting structure and the buildings were stuccoed to cover it. -LAUSD Art and Artifact Collection.
The main classroom building facing Fair Park Avenue was added around 1927, it became the main entrance and remains so today. The sign over this entrance still says Eagle Rock School. All of the schools were now part of the Los Angeles School District and had non-directional names. The PTA planted the deodars during the presidency of Valley Knudsen, a beautification activist; she went on to found Los Angeles Beautiful. She and her husband owned Knudsen’s Dairies. -LAUSD Art and Artifact Collection.
The May Festival was the second of the two yearly community festivals sponsored by the PTA. In those days when few women worked, the PTA was the focus of many women’s efforts. Often the organization had over one hundred members and raised substantial funds to enhance the schools. The children celebrate in 1930.The rear of the 1917 building stands in the background, with the auditorium wing projecting to the right. The playground has been paved. -ERVHS
Pictured is a tug-o-war during the 1932 Harvest Home Festival. John Swisher, donor of the photo, is fifth from the left tugging with the rest. Behind the students can be seen the unaltered façade of the Auditorium. Second from left in the back row is Maxine (Mitchell) Tichenor; next to her is John’s sister, Dorothy E. Swisher, in the mask. In the front row, third from the left is Ricki De Kramer. Second from the right is Lucy Spurgeon. -ERVHS-John Swisher
This is the cover of the multi page program for the 9th annual Harvest Home Festival.
The operetta “The Forest Court” to be performed in the school auditorium was advertised. -ERVHS
Costumed children are depicted in1929, on the steps of the original brick kindergarten building. Mrs. Anne Hare Harrison introduced the first “Harvest Home Festival”, commemorating Thanksgiving, in the fall of 1920. Put on by the PTA, it was a carnival occasion with food booths, games, and light and more serious stage entertainment. -ERVHS
Eagle Rock adopted kindergarten (a new concept at the time) in 1915. Miss Walker found 30 children under 5 ½ years of age, out of a population that had not reached 1000. Pictured is the kindergarten class of 1918. -Elena Frackelton Murdock family.
The east façade of Eagle Rock Central School was built facing Chickasaw Avenue. This building, which still exists, was built in 1917 as a result of a long-sought compromise. A bond issue passed that financed this school and East and West schools. The ends of the valley had developed, and parents didn’t want their children to make the long walk to the center. -Los Angeles Public Library/ Security Pacific Collection.
A larger plot of land, part of the Gates strawberry ranch, was purchased to accommodate the expanding school. Eagle Rock’s second school building was built on the new site in 1909. This new Craftsman Style brick building accommodated, for a few years, the rapidly growing population facilitated by the new trolley service and residential subdivision. -Elena Frackelton Murdock family.