Introduction, Dedications, and Disclaimer

Notes from the author, Sarah Supahan, July 2024:

Throughout Trinity County's history, there have been 69 different schools. They are all located on this map in the school's approximate location.

Schools here often began as private schools before becoming public. Sometimes, if there was a significant decrease in the number of students or a reduction in funding, a school, once public, might revert to a private one. Schools were suspended, closed, or lapsed into another district with some frequency depending on the buildings available, the accessibility in inclement weather, and the number of children living in any one location. Some schools named after their original location in the county are also known to have moved to a new location but retained the name of the first location. It makes for a difficult chronological account of some individual schools or districts. The content of these school histories is based on documented evidence that can sometimes be confusing or contradictory.

Because history often relies on personal experiences and older memories, I have tried to confirm information from more than one source when possible. However, it's entirely likely that mistakes have been made and that some information may be missing. Without an official editor, grammatical errors will also likely be found. If you have further information or photos about a school to share, or if you spot an error, please contact the author at ssupahan@mac.com. Thank you so much!

Unless otherwise noted, the photos in the following documents are from the Trinity County Office of Education's Historic Photo Collection. For many years, the Trinity County Historical Society and the Trinity County Office of Education have shared photos, so each organization should have much the same photo collection and equal rights to use those photos.

I am very grateful to the following: Jim French, a former Superintendent of Schools, whose vast knowledge of many of the old schools and their locations was invaluable, as well as the collection of photos and other records he and those before him saved at the Trinity County Office of Education; to Bettina Blackwell also a former Superintendent of Schools, for her family history; to Peggy Canale Superintendent and teacher at Southern Trinity School District for her many contributions to this effort, and for venturing forth to use the information as curriculum for her students; I'm incredibly grateful for Dero Foresland of the Trinity County Historical Society who did a lot of research for me through old Trinity newspapers and then gave me access to the old newspaper collection that he had diligently digitized. The old newspapers were invaluable. I am also especially grateful to Lynn Prest for sharing her knowledge, maps, mother's notes, and other information about Minersville and to other community members who graciously contributed their knowledge and documents to the effort. I also appreciate the time it took for the TCOE Tech Department to create the map and locate each school site within it. Also, a thank you to my husband, Mike Harding, who has put up with me and my obsession with school history, even to the extent that he read and edited several of them almost voluntarily.

My hope is that the students, former, current, and future, may find this history as fascinating as I do.