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Resurrecting the ghosts of New River
Topics: local history, Schools, photos, historic, one-room schoolhouse, New River School
Posted by Contributor Wed Oct 8, 2008 12:49:54 PDT
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We know that the Kern River has made several dramatic shifts in alignment over the past century and a half. I will mention only two of those shifts because they are relevant to the tale I’d like to share. In 1861-62, flooding from heavy rains opened a channel to a slough between Kern and Buena Vista lakes. That channel came to be referred to as Old River. Yet another flood, this one in the winter of 1867-68, moved the river further north, forming its present channel.  Not surprisingly, locals referred to the westerly stretch of this new alignment, at least for a time, as "the new river".

But my tale is not about the Kern River or Old River or really any river at all. I suppose it's best descried as a ghost story since it recounts my efforts to resurrect the ghosts of the New River School. The schoolhouse itself has been gone now for more than a hundred years so there’s a very good chance that you’ve never heard of it. Indeed, except for a photograph, there is scant evidence that the New River School even existed.

It is an excellent photograph, probably taken by a professional photographer. A note on the back tells us the year, 1891, and the occasion, "Graduation day". The teacher and her sixteen charges are posed casually on a grassy area in the foreground, three of the girls wearing dresses of the same material, sisters perhaps. The teacher, standing erect and prim, is wearing a long, stylish dress that looks too formal, almost out of place in the decidedly rural setting. She is identified as Margaret Gardette, one of several Gardette sisters (including Millie Gardette Munsey) who taught in Kern County during that era. The one room, wood frame schoolhouse, typical of the times, sits solemnly on a rise in the background, a horse tethered nearby. Seven names, in a child’s hand, are printed on the back of the photograph: two members of the Still family, Percy and Sylvia, along with Bessie, Charles, Cora, Warren and Earl Tucker. It is merely a list, however, and no attempt was made to match names with faces in the photo.

It was a bit unsettling knowing that the children with whom I was exchanging stares were now long dead. Still, that only served to arouse my curiosity. If there were any New River ghosts still hanging around, perhaps I would be able to persuade them to reveal their secrets, to answer the host of questions that were running around in my mind. Where had they lived? In the city? On a farm? How did they get to school? What was it like being in a one-room schoolhouse? It looks like your little school was out in the country, but where exactly?

I set out to gather more information knowing full well that what I needed as much as information was a really good map of Kern County as it appeared in the 1890s.

I stumbled across a document in the local history section of the Beale Library that listed all the school districts in the county and how they had evolved. It told me that New River had first opened its doors in 1880 and remained open for twenty years. With a starting date in hand, I headed for the office of the clerk of the board of supervisors which proved to be a wonderful resource. From their archives, I managed to acquire a copy of the minutes of a meeting of the board of supervisors, dated July 23, 1880, at which time they offically approved the formation of the New River School District.

Copies of old Bakersfield Californians in the microfilm room at the Beale Library revealed a few more details: the New River School’s average daily attendance in its first year was five students. There were twenty-one students the following year, the greatest number of students it would have during its brief history.  An edition of the paper from July of 1893 listed the names of students in local schools who had been promoted, a common practice in those days.  Seven were from New River. Three had the last name of Hudson, two were named Carlin, the others were Ida Pensinger and Lizzie Powers. The teacher was listed as Miss Colton. More ghosts.

Within just a few years, New River's enrollment began a slow but steady decline. At the opening of the 1898-99 school year, fewer than five children were in attendance. Five was the magic number. In most instances, when a district’s average daily attendance fell below five, the county superintendent of schools would recommend its closure. Such a recommendation was made for New River, and on April 5, 1900, the district was declared lapsed (the official designation when schools are closed) by the board of supervisors and it’s territory annexed to the adjacent Buena Vista district .

So now I knew what New River School looked like, when it had opened, something of its enrollment, and when it closed. All that was for naught, however, unless I could find out just where it had been located.

I thought to make a map of the district boundaries using the legal description as set forth by the board of supervisors when the district was formed. Surely it was a tiny district and knowing its boundaries would narrow the search area and greatly improve my chances of finding the school on a map. Or so I reasoned. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The boundary lines circumscribed an area of almost four hundred square miles! It was bounded on the north by Seventh Standard Road, on the south by Taft Highway, on the east by a line close to Calloway Road, and on the west by the county line! I was dumbfounded. The New River district was, in a word, HUGE, and its ghosts now seemed more determined than ever to keep their secrets.

Maps of Kern County from that time period, 1880-1900, are hard to come by and rarer still are those that include the location of schoolhouses. Logic dictated that New River’s schoolhouse had been situated somewhere along that stretch of river to the west of town, that portion first referred to as "the new river". But that could not be confirmed unless I could find it on a map. Persistence finally paid off! I found the school site while gazing, for what must have been at least the tenth time, at a beautiful old county map on the wall in the local history section of the Beale. Dated 1885, it is framed and hangs over the map cabinet near the librarian’s desk. I don’t think I cried out when my eyes landed on the words "New River Sc", next to a small flag, but it was definitely an "Aha!" moment. I retrieved a digital camera from my car and took a few pictures of that portion of the map that included the New River site.

The map could not show me the exact location of the schoolhouse, of course, but it did reveal that it was in the northwest quadrant of section 18 (a section is one mile square), township 30 south, range 26 east. Close enough! That told me that the school had been situated on the north side of the river and just over a mile east of what would one day become Enos Lane. That put it in a very remote area about twelve miles west of town, a considerable distance in 1900. Where, then, would the students come from? And how would the teacher get there each day? Then George Lynch, a very knowledgeable Kern County historian, got wind of my quest and sent me an old map of the area. That map clearly showed three large ranches - Buena Vista, McClung, and Bellevue - all Kern County Land Company operations and all within a few miles of the school. George suggested that most, if not all, the students at New River lived on those ranches. Perhaps the teacher was offered quarters there as well. A logical conclusion and one that I agreed with.

Seeking further validation, I returned to the names on the back of the photograph and checked them out through Ancestry.com. The Still family was found in the 1890 census records. Those records revealed that the father, Robert Still, was employed as a superintendent for the Kern County Land Company, which likely meant he was headquartered on one of their many ranches. Although historians frown on assumptions, I found it not unreasonable to suppose that the Still family lived on that ranch and, further, that the ranch had been reasonably close to the school. Probably, but only probably, they lived on one of the three ranches shown on the old map.

At this point I had exhausted all my resources. If there was more to be found, I didn’t know where to look. I had expended considerable time and energy in searching for the where and the why of the New River School and now had to ask myself if my time had been well spent, if anything of historical significance had come out of this exercise. If - and I suppose it to be true - there is value in knowing and understanding the people and institutions that have helped shape our community, then, yes, we must assign some value to the contribution made by little New River School. And there was considerable personal satisfaction in being able to uncover sufficient details to validate New River’s existence. But now, with over a hundred years having gone by since it closed, it’s unlikely that we will learn much more. I hasten to add that mere satisfaction will turn to unbridled elation if I am ever able to determine the exact spot where that little schoolhouse sat!  It seems likely that I will never know that, but I do know this: If I travel west on Stockdale Highway to Enos Lane, then turn south onto Enos Lane for 2-1/4 miles to where the bike trail begins, then follow the bike trail east for about 1-1/4 miles and, at that point, cross the river to the north side, then I absolutely must be within spitting distance of that school site.

I have made that trek three times, however, and found no more ghosts, nothing other than isolated, desolate scrub country, and lots of low growing stickery type weeds, the landscape dotted here and there with cottonwoods and willows. It could not have looked much different in 1880. Each time I have gone there I’ve tried to find a spot where I might recapture what I see in the photograph but each time I end up just shaking my head, frustrated, talking to myself. I know you were here, but where exactly? Did you leave anything behind? A metal desk leg? Part of the old wood stove? Anything at all to prove that you that you were something other than just a spot on an old map? How I wish those kids in that picture could talk to me!

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Comment From: JoeBertia

An excellent and through job of researching and presenting a forgotten facet of Kern County's educational history. Comment From: Oildale93308

Recommend writer Jerry Kirkland do an aerial view by Google Earth of the location South of Stockdale Hwy/East of Enos Lane. It gives a different perspective than a ground view. I'd be interested in what he sees. Thanks.