Donna Reiner has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about Phoenix history and memorials. She is a regular contributor to our newsletter. This month, Donna tells us about the Willo Neighborhood’s Fairhope School.
I’m particularly interested in this one, as I listed this property years after it became a single family home.
Decades ago, school generally started after Labor Day whether you were enrolled in a public or private school. Today, for you or your children attending school in the valley, August and sometimes July is definitely that time of year when the school bell has rung.
Several years ago, a realtor acquaintance asked me about the history of one private school. It turned out to be a merry journey because of its early beginnings, many moves, and various names. If it still existed, it would have just celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Fairhope School, the most common name used, was founded in Phoenix on the ideas of Mrs. Marietta Johnson. But this was not her first venture into inspiring the creation of a school based on her ideas. NO, Marietta Johnson hailed from Fairhope, Alabama (hence the name) and advocated a particular philosophy about the structure of schooling which she called Organic Education. It was a progressive method of teaching at the time which sought to encourage the curiosity of students through doing.
Starting small in 1920, the co-ed Fairhope School in Phoenix initially met in the gymnasium on the property of H.L Chalmers at 230 East McDowell Road. Mrs. Chalmers is the person who pushed to establish such a private school in Phoenix so it seemed natural to offer the family’s property as the school site.
By the start of the school year in 1925, students were enrolled from kindergarten through the first year of high school. The large Chalmers property (a half block at the time) provided plenty of room for the students to exercise, play, and explore.
But gradually the enrollment grew until 60 students at the start of the 1930/31 school year were definitely going to need a larger and more permanent home.
Plans were drawn for a new L-shaped school building by H.H. Green, a local architect, that could accommodate up to 100 students. The site for the new school was on 3rd and Virginia Avenues. The students vacated the Chalmers site and moved to temporary quarters on the Akers property on the northwest corner of Portland Street and North Central Avenue. And on October 13, 1930, the students and the school moved to its first permanent location.
The Great Depression appears to have caused problems for Fairhope School in Phoenix for it became Miss Preston’s School in 1933. Ads do mention that it was formerly the Fairhope School. After Mrs. Marietta Johnson’s passing in late 1938, even her school in Fairhope, Alabama closed.
However, that school building on 3rd and Virginia Avenues still exists. Various commercial enterprises occupied the site over the years including the home/office of Neal Roberts who was involved in the Don Boles murder trials. Converted into apartments, it later became the Yum Yum Tree Guest House and Resort.
Definitely this building has some stories to tell. Today it is a private residence which has been added onto, but still retains some of the features of that original school when you compare the drawing to a contemporary picture.
