The Little Red Schoolhouse on Alba Road
By Lucia MacLean
It stood for 125 years. Since the day it was built in 1895 it has been a rallying point for the local community. It first saw service as a grammar school and Sunday School, always morphing into whatever the community needed. When the neighborhood needed mail service, or seeing the road maintained, it provided a central focal point for letter writing, fund-raising, community gatherings, and entertainment. If someone in the community needed help, such as a lack of funds for winter firewood, the community came to the rescue. Most recently, it was a library and a community center where neighbors came together each month for a potluck. This year of COVID-19 marked the first time in recorded history that the annual 4th of July Celebration wasn’t held.
In 1894, D.R. Guichard and his brother Leopold came to the town of Ben Lomond from New Orleans seeking better health and good farmland. They had contact with Wesley Fanning who had property in the Ben Lomond area. They bought land and after building rudimentary cabins, sent for their families the next year. With the addition of the 10 Guichard children, it was obvious to D.R. that a local school was needed. He began lobbying for a school in the area with the Santa Cruz County School Superintendent, John W. Linscott, immediately after purchasing his land.
Linscott was hesitant to build yet another one-room school in the County. One can understand his reluctance given that out of the 67 schools in the county, 46 of them were one-room schools. But D.R. bet him a chicken dinner if he would walk up Stoddard Road (later Alba Road) the two miles to the Guichards. Linscott took a horse and buggy but understood the need for a school in the immediate area.
Alba was the youngest daughter of Joseph Rossi, who had lived on Stoddard Road since purchasing his property on December 19, 1890. He had emigrated from Italy in 1869. He and his wife, Sarah Jane, were the owners of the Rossi fruit farm. He had first cleared the land of redwood trees, and then planted vines and fruit trees. Alba was born in November,1888, and was one of the first pupils at the school.
The neighbors banded together to “raise the school” in the time-honored tradition of barn-raising. One can imagine the hampers stuffed with food to feed the workers. People in the area contributed whatever they could to the effort. Some donated cash, some contributed labor. The local lumber company, Pacific Mills, offered to wait on the bill for the lumber, as did local stores for such materials as nails. Four blackboards were nailed up. Because some of the lumber used was still green when the school was built, the school children later helped chink the gaps in the walls with Woodwardia ferns.
After the school was built, it was named “Alba” to honor the Rossi family. The name of the road and the creek followed.
Alba School stood through two world wars, a terrible flu epidemic, two major earthquakes, mudslides, and floods. Sadly it did not make it through the CZU Lightning Complex fire. With the loss of so many homes in the area, it may rise again into another centerpiece for the community, who knows?
Photos contributed by Alba Schoolhouse
Lucia MacLean is the History & Records Research Coordinator for Alba Schoolhouse. Visit AlbaSchoolhouse.com to learn more.
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