Fremont School - Klamath Falls, OR
N 42° 13.613 W 121° 46.999
10T E 600404 N 4675683
This former school building now sits mostly empty and is located on High Street in downtown Klamath Falls, OR.
Waymark Code: WMK9F5
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 03/04/2014
Views: 3
Located on High Street sits a mostly empty building containing a former church and two-story structure. The two-story building was originally built in 1925 as Fremont School. There is a cornerstone located near the front entrance that reads:
FREMONT SCHOOL
ERECTED, A D 1925
DIRECTORS
C.H. UNDERWOOD, CHAIRMAN
OSCAR L. SHIVL LESLIE ROGERS
EDNA A. CHAMBERS C.A. MASSEY
IDA .B. MOMYER, CLERK |
In all the years I've lived in Klamath (44), I didn't know that this school was once known as Fremont School, nor did I know that it was erected so long ago. I was able to locate a really nice historical webpage originally compiled in 1960 and devoted to all schools of Klamath County, past and present. It's part of the Klamath County Museum website and there's a paragraph devoted to the former Fremont School that reads:
Fremont
On High Street, between 8th and 7th Streets, in Klamath Falls. This downtown school was opened February 3, 1925, to replace the Central School. Augusta Parker, the first principal of Fremont, recalled that pupils carried their own books and supplies from one school to the other, that windy day. No floor had yet been laid in the gymns, so the physical education classes trained on dirt floors for a while. Additional rooms were added, under the superintendency of Al Gralapp, to accommodate art and music, and to add shower rooms. In 1960, there were 20 teachers and a full time principal. The building is used for 8th grade pupils.
(The school was, according to a Feb 26 1961 issue of the Herald and News, named in honor of Gen John C Fremont, who visited the area in 1853. The school closed in June 1970, with the opening of Ponderosa Junior High. The building was for many years used as an educational wing for First Baptist Church.)
This former school remains mostly empty since the First Baptist Church moved to Homedale Rd. except for a local Alcoholics Anonymous chapter that rents out space in part of the building. Hosanna Christian School was also located here for about 13 years before they erected their own school across town in 2002.