Santa Maria Valley schoolhouse has roots dating back to 1875

Wanting to build a school closer to home in order keep their children from making the long trek to the Pleasant Valley School, the residents of the western part of town formed the Agricola School District in 1875. L.W. Blosser was chairman of the first board of trustees, while William Laird Adam served as secretary. The first recorded minutes, dated July 1, 1891, show that the board employed S.B. Schauer to teach a four-month term at a salary of $65 per month. Eloise F. Lawrence was offered the job of teaching the following five-month term for $60 per month, but when she learned that janitorial and librarian services were a part of her job, she turned the offer down. Sophia Fauntleroy took the job and remained at school for the rest of the year. When an addition to the school was built in September of 1898 at a cost of $410, trustees Chaffin and Adam personally assumed the lumber bill in the amount of $92.60 as a gift to the school district. Disbursements during the 1894-95 year showed a $10 payment for two cords of wood, and an $11 payment for the hauling of 44 barrels of water...Santa MariaTimes