Reunion--Monterey High School--Class of 1973

MONTEREY HIGH SCHOOL — A SHORT HISTORY

The City of Monterey occupies an important place in California history. It became the seat of California government in 1849 when the first State Constitution was drawn up at Colton Hall but it was in 1904 that Monterey High's history began. In the fall of that year, forty students and four teachers met in the top floor of the grammar school building located on the area we now call the "lower campus," and classes began for Monterey High School. Our present main campus was a brush-covered hillside bordered by two gullies.

In the fall of 1912, school opened in newly constructed buildings located where the present Science building stands, but there was a new name. After petition by the electorate, the Board of Supervisors declared the district to be the Monterey County High School. The boundary lines included the Pajaro District to the north, down the coast beyond Big Sur and all of Carmel Valley to Jamesburg. Students from Pacific Grove and Carmel also attended Monterey County High School. In area, it was one of the largest school districts ever established in the state of California.

In 1915, the County High School District was dissolved and the Monterey Union High School District was formed. This name remained unchanged for nearly fifty years, although the boundaries were gradually decreased.

The years from 1915 to 1920 saw the student body grow to one hundred twenty and the and the teaching staff increase to ten. The shop building was ready for use in 1920, the old Science building and the Auditorium-gymnasium in 1923. In 1927 the old Music building was build on the slope above the south gully, finally to be condemned and razed in 1966.

In 1931 the Shop building was extended and in 1957 it was again remodeled. The present boys gymnasium was built in 1931 and remodeled in 1962. Also in 1931 the present library building was built and it was extensively remodeled in 1965. When the present Music building was built in 1948 it was the scene of the "Monterey gold rush."

In the 1950's the English and Social Studies buildings were erected in rapid succession. In 1958 the new girls' gymnasium-multi-use room was erected on the site of the original old auditorium-gymnasium which had been condemned and torn down some years earlier. It 1959 the new Science building was erected on the site of the old Administration/ classroom building, and in 1961 the old Science building was converted into a new Administration building.

The construction of the present cafeteria, lecture hall, and adjacent classrooms was completed during the 1962-63 school year. Part of these buildings and the north parking lot rest on the filled-in north gully. Beginning with the school year 1962 our school's name was changed to Monterey High School in anticipation of a second high school in the Monterey Union High School District. In the fall of 1963 Monterey's sister school, Seaside High School, opened its doors and in 1965 it graduated its first senior class.

On July 1, 1966 the new Monterey Peninsula Unified School District came into being. It is made up of the old Monterey Union High School District, the Monterey City School District, and the Marina School District. This unification terminated the Monterey Union High School District begun in 1915.

Adapted from the 1998 MHS Course Catalog.