Gilbert’s ‘Alamo’ schoolhouse holds a century of memories
This year, Gilbert’s “Alamo” is marking a century.
The early schoolhouse building at the southwestern corner of Gilbert and Elliot roads — nicknamed because of its Spanish territorial look and now housing the Gilbert Historical Museum — traces its roots to June 6, 1913, when Everett R. Wilbur, the town’s first mayor, sold the 5-acre former pig farm to the school district for $10.
The school district built Gilbert Elementary School and, just three months later, welcomed students in September 1913. The school consisted of four classrooms, a central assembly room, two small offices and a large entryway. It also had a basement.
Most visitors to the museum sense that the squeaky oak floors, sturdy adobe walls and the dark basement contain decades of memories. Besides being a school, it doubled as a community center and was the birthplace of Methodist and Mormon churches in Gilbert.
In 1916, voters approved a $10,000 bond to add a north wing to the school.
It’s the only distinctive building remaining from the town’s beginnings. In 1980, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and remains Gilbert’s only structure with that distinction.
“We’re a very unique building in this town,” museum Executive Director Kayla Kolar said.
Gerry Emmett, 99, who at- tended from 1919, is perhaps the old school’s oldest surviving student.
Then known by her birth name, Geraldine Johnson, Emmett and her family came to Gilbert from Iowa when she was 5 years old. She spent 12 years in the school system and was one of 26 students to graduate in 1932 from the high school the district had built near the elementary building.
“It was a very small school,” she recalled from her home in Prescott.
At the time, Emmett said, 250 people lived in the town, and the elementary school was large enough to theoretically contain Gilbert’s population.
“There were very few people, and most of the people that were in Gilbert when I got there were Mexicans. They taught us how to survive,” she recalled.
But Hispanics weren’t allowed to attend Gilbert Elementary School because they couldn’t speak English, and educators at the time believed that would slow down the English speakers.
So, in the 1920s, the district established what came to be known as the “Mexican School” a short distance away.
Connie Salas, 84, attended the Mexican School for several years starting in 1934. The focus was to learn English, and it took her three years to pass first grade because the new language didn’t come easily.
Salas, who lived most of her life on the same street as the elementary school, said the 100year-old building was “something to look forward to.”
“We had to pass here where our gringo friends played,” she said, gesturing in the direction of the museum building. “We had to cross the street to go to the Mexican School. We used to pick fights and argue with them. But we got over it; we were friends.”
Although Salas came to the elementary school only for nurse visits, her daughters, Christina and Mona, attended the old Gilbert Elementary. By that time, they spoke English, Salas said.
In 1929, June Neely Morrison started kindergarten in the basement of the elementary school.
“I missed very, very little school in all the12 years. I loved the time there,” said Morrison, 88, whose five siblings also were educated at the elementary school.
For many years, the elementary school was the site of social events and church meetings.
In August 1915, Methodists met in the school porch and officially declared themselves a church. A short time after, the Mormon community felt the need to begin its own Gilbert Ward and began holding meetings there as well.
In 1918, they built their own building across Elliot Road from the school.
The elementary school functioned in its primary role until 1977, when the district pronounced it unsuitable for use. Through the efforts of the Gilbert Historical Society, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1985, the society was able to purchase the building, which the district had been using for storage. Morrison’s uncle, Otto Neely, and his wife, Edna, wrote a check for $300,000, which bought the building and left some seed money for the society.
Thereafter, it became a museum.