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Home My WebLink About1866 - Maple School and Foster School District #104 (Established in 1892)4 ‹ MARCH 2013 « www.TUKWILAREPORTER.com 1st Tukwila School tukwila’sstory BY PAT BRODIN AND LOUISE JONES-BROWN TUKWILA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Th e early pioneer settlers established land claims in the 1850s and 1860s from the mouth of the Duwamish River to just south of the Black River. In 1869, the Sur- veyor General’s Offi ce completed a survey of King County. Most settlers selected land near waterways due to lack of roads and most travel was by canoes and small boats. A few names found on the survey include Luther Collins, Jacob, Eli and Samuel Ma- ple, Joseph and Stephen Foster, Frances McNatt, John Buckley, T. Grow, C.C. Lew- is, Bennett Johns, Henry Meter (Meador), George Holt, A. Hograve, John Moss, C.E. Brownell, and Henry Adams. In the mid-1800s, with the establishment of family farms, the population began to include many children. Many of the set- tlers had little or no formal education but decided it would be important to establish schools. One such school opened in 1866 on the farm of Samuel Maple. A deed fi led in 1871 King County, Wash- ington Territory, shows Samuel donated land for a Maple School to the “Directors of Seattle School District No. 2.” John Wesley Maple, Sam’s brother, worked as a teacher in the Maple School in 1868 and served as president of the school board until his death in 1902. A photo of the Maple School in 1884-1885 has the fol- lowing student’s names listed: Cora, Dora and Cliff Maple, Howard and Maude Hor- ton, Henry, Herman, Louis and Th eodore Wendt, Charles and Nina Giff ord, Abbott and Jasper Mayo, Albert Rossi, Steven Col- lins, Henry Manderville, Rose Newell (a Maple cousin), and Viola Miller. Most of the students would arrive for classes by boat or canoe as there were still very few roads in the valley. Joseph and Martha (Steele) Foster were advocates for education and were instru- mental in formation of the local school district. Th ey off ered a tract of land which was offi cially transferred to the new school district for a $1 gold coin on March 1, 1892. Th e residents of the community then built Foster School at the corner of 51st Avenue South and South 139th Street. Th e site is known today as Foster Memorial Park. Once the new one-room school was built, the Foster School District No. 104 was established in 1892. During the fi rst fi ve years, the Foster School District only had a handful of students while Joseph Foster served on the school board. As in the 19th century, the school year consisted of a four-month winter term and a three-month summer term, allow- ing students time off when their help was needed on the farm. On April 7, 1904, Fos- ter School District consolidated with the Black River School District No. 6 and then became Foster School District No. 144. Consequently as enrollment increased, the school board purchased an additional acre of land in 1905 from Joseph Foster imme- diately north of the original acre. Th e dis- trict quickly built a new four-room school and moved the original one room school to the southeast corner of the property where it stood until about 1930. In 1909, district voters approved a $16,000 bond issue to purchase sites and new schools at Duwa- mish, Riverton and Tukwila. Enrollment grew throughout the entire upper Duwamish River Valley with im- proved transportation and immigration during the fi rst decade of the 20th century. Later consolidations led to the establish- ment of South Central School District No. 144 and fi nally Tukwila School District No. 406 as we know it today. From the one- room schools of the 1800s to the present time, the pioneering vision and progressive support of people such as the Fosters and the Maples contributed greatly to the local education for those living in the valley. Pat Brodin is chair of Tukwila Historical Society and co-authored this month’s “Tuk- wila’s Story” article about development of schools in the greater Duwamish River Val- ley area. Louise Jones-Brown is treasurer for the Tukwila Historical Society and acting director of Tukwila Heritage and Cultural Center. Coming events Saturday, April 6, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Garage Sale, Tuk- wila Historical Society Fundraiser at the Tukwila Heritage and Cultural Center, 14475 59th Ave. S. Saturday, April 27, 2pm, Highline Historical Society presents a Military Road Sesquicentennial Program at Tyee High School, by Michael Vouri, National Parks Ser- vice at San Juan Island and author on Pickett and the Pig War. Saturday, June 8, 1 p.m., Tukwila Historical Society and Tukwila Arts Commission presents a Military Road Sesquicentennial Program presentation, “Territorial Voices” A Civil War Reader’s Theater by Lorraine McCon- aghy, author and historian. Program made possible by Humanities Washington. Free admission. City schools take root The original Foster High School. Tukwila Historical Society