For some reason I have been stuck in a Secret Valley mode of thought, with Biscar Reservoir and Petroglyph Humor.  For those not familiar, Secret Valley is a long straight stretch along Highway 395 North, approximately thirty miles from Susanville.

Like so many places throughout the region, in a bygone era, lively times were had there. In addition, like so many rural outposts it had its own school district, that was established in 1890. Rural schools then, were not confined to a strict schedule that occurs today. The Secret Valley School during the 1920s and 1930s operated during the summer months and was closed from November to February. The school closed in 1938. The last graduating class consisted of Emelia Diaz and Ida Nye. In 1940, the school was annexed to Soldier Bridge, known today as Shaffer.

On a footnote, this is one of handful of Lassen County schools that I do not possess a photograph of. The late Faye Laver, thought she possessed one, but could never find it.

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Lassen County voter’s can be a stingy lot when it comes to passing local bond measures. During the 1920s, Lassen High School was overwhelmed by the increase of the student population, due to the tremendous growth from the lumber mills being established. By 1926, Susanville Elementary School District had built three schools in six years. The Lassen High School Trustees was in dire need to expand its facility, but were keenly aware the voters had no appetite to finance another bond measure. What to do? The most pressing need was to find a solution to the overcrowding. After all, classes began at 8:00 a.m. and lasted until 5:00 p.m. as a heavy rotation schedule was in place to meet all the needs of the students.  The remedy was to build an east wing addition to the current structure. At the November 5, 1928 meeting, the trustees at the high school approved to construct the $33,000 east wing addition. They had a budget reserve of $6,300 that would be the initial down payment. At this time, they were only spending 69 cents of assessment funds, though the maximum was at 75 cents. The following year, they would raise the cap to 75, that provided an additional $12,000 for the building fund and it would remain until the project was paid in full.  Work would not begin until May 1, so not be disruptive during school operations and was completed in time for fall classes.

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In 1900, there were over seventy rural schools and post offices scattered throughout Lassen County. Little Valley, located south of Big Valley, was of no exception. Its school district was established in 1885, and in 1926, due to a decline in population the school was abolished. In 1929, Mary Gassaway purchased the abandoned schoolhouse from Lassen County for $75. What is rather peculiar the Little Valley Post Office was not established until 1948.

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In 1897 and 1898 the Warm Springs and Junction Schools were formally declared closed by the Superintendent of Schools.  Due to that circumstance, no school existed in the extreme southern portion of Lassen County. In 1904, F.C. McDiarmid petitioned the County Superintendent of Schools, J.F. Dixon, to form a new school district in the southernmost portion of Lassen County.  McDiarmid cited there were 21 school age children in the proposed district and that the majority of these children resided more than ten miles from the nearest schoolhouse.  McDiarmid’s petition was submitted on March 14^th and required urgent attention.  State law required all new districts be formed before the 5^th of April of any year.  Dixon urged the Board of Supervisors to approve the District and noted that the Board would need to hold a special meeting to meet the State deadline.  The Board of Supervisors held a special meeting on April 4^th, with three members in attendance, and approved the formation of the Constantia School District.  The District boundaries included the Constantia Ranch and all the territory south to the Sierra County line.

In the fall of 1904, school commenced in the old Warm Springs schoolhouse near Red Rock Station.  In the summer of 1914, that schoolhouse was destroyed by fire.  The next year, the District held a special election to move the site of the school to the A. Wills homestead near Chat.  In 1944, the school closed and annexed Long Valley.

Alfred Montgomery (1857-1922) gave this name to his isolated home in eastern Honey Lake Valley. Montgomery was not your typical homesteader. He was a painter, and referred to as the “farmer artist.” It has been stated that his paintings of corn were so realistic that birds would swoop down and peck at his canvas. It was Montgomery’s intention to raise a variety of vegetables at this place, using them as subjects for future paintings. Montgomery was known for his itinerant ways, drifting across the United States, and sporadically residing at his Nowhere homestead from 1911, through 1919. Locally, Montgomery’s legacy to the region came in 1911 when he gave a lecture and art exhibition in Susanville—the proceeds established the art department at Lassen High School.

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Ash Valley is one of those hidden gems tucked away between the communities of Adin and Madeline. When it was settled in the early 1870s the majority of its population consisted of old bachelors. Changes were on the horizon, new settlers with families began to arrive. In 1876, the Lassen County Board of Supervisors approved the Ash Valley School District, there being some fifteen plus school age children there. Shortly thereafter the residents built a school house.

World War I had a major impact on the rural areas of Lassen County and this was readily apparent in Ash Valley, as the school closed its doors in 1919 for a luck of students. It would go through several openings and closures over the next twenty years. In 1938, John Bath and Martha Bath were the last students to graduate. In 1941, the school closed for good.

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