In 1874 the idea for a high school in Santa Rosa resulted in some 20-plus students making up the first Santa Rosa High School student body. Classes were held on the second floor of the Fourth Street School located on, yes, Fourth Street. In 1878, ten of those first students graduated—eight girls and two boys.
Ten years later a three-story classroom building for the high school (enrollment had grown to 117) was erected on Humboldt Street, and in 1912 a structure of concrete and steel, dubbed the “Annex” was erected for physical education, drama, shops and home economics.
In November 1921 the classroom building was destroyed in a fire, the cause of which was likely faulty electrical wiring. For the next three years students attended class in rented and donated spaces in the downtown area.
Discussion for a new site for the high school finally resulted in today’s Mendocino Avenue campus. Built of brick because of the ’21 fire, the main building, the first constructed, was finished in time for classes in January 1924. It was followed by the auditorium and the gymnasium to prese beautiful, classic structures to the public. The Sara Pryor music building (named for a longtime board of education member), the shops and the Burke Hall agriculture building (named for a board president and supporter of ag education) followed and continued the classic architectural theme.
Because of overcrowding, temporary buildings were situated south of the auditorium in the mid-1950s. The opening of Montgomery High in 1958 alleviated that overpopulation, but the buildings remain and today house the popular ArtQuest program.
Interiors in 1963 were rebuilt to earthquake standards, and in the early 2000s the main building’s entryway was refurbished to a 1920s look and feel. In 2002 DeSoto Hall (named to honor English instructor Eugene DeSoto) was finished to house English classes. During these years a number of smaller buildings appeared near the ag building for mathematics classes.
In 2024 Santa Rosa High School will celebrate its 150th year of public education, a legacy of the oldest and finest of Santa Rosa’s high schools.
