Histroy of the School House
The Hyatt School
The Hyatt School was built in 1898 by members of the Buck family. Floyd Buck recalls it took his father and uncle two days to complete the construction. It was named after Edward G. Hyatt one of Riverside county's first and finest educators. He taught in the San Jacinto Valley becoming the principle of the High School then he became the superintendent of Riverside County and in later life he became the California State Superintendent of Schools.
Hyatt never saw running water or electricity. Two outhouses back of the school provided restrooms for both boys and girls. Children washed up in a wash pan filled with water hand pumped from the windmill close by. Pumped water also filled the bucket with drinking water students dipped with a ladle or cup. In the cold winter months the oldest boy would bring in the firewood before the rest of the students arrived and build a nice fire in the woodstove to heat up the room. Hyatt remained open until 1947.
In its nearly 50 years...
In its nearly 50 years it stood proud as a center of learning and the community center as well. Sunday church meetings brought the local families together and Saturday nights at the school had these same families dancing and enjoying their time together.
