Altaville Grammar School

The state's register is ten years out. It prints 1848; the bronze on the wall casts 1858, and the San Andreas Independent reported the new schoolhouse nearly finished in January 1859. The money came from a dance held in the billiard saloon of the Prince building down the road, and town socials paid for the furniture. One room of local brick laid two deep served Altaville until 1950. The bronze titles it Altaville Grammar School; only the register calls it the Red Brick Grammar School.

What the plaque says

ALTAVILLE GRAMMAR SCHOOL THIS BRICK BUILDING, ERECTED IN 1858 WITH FUNDS RAISED BY A DANCE IN THE BILLIARD SALOON OF THE N.R. PRINCE BUILDING (WHICH STILL STANDS), IS ONE OF THE OLDEST SCHOOLS OF CALIFORNIA. USED AS A SCHOOL UNTIL 1950, IT WAS THEN REPLACED BY THE PRESENT MARK TWAIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN ALTAVILLE. HISTORICAL LANDMARK NO. 499 MARKER PLACED BY THE CALIFORNIA STATE PARK COMMISSION IN COOPERATION WITH PRINCESS PARLOR NO. 84, NATIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE GOLDEN WEST, MAY 1, 1955.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 9.2 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Altaville — 0.5 mi
• Prince-Garibardi Building — 0.5 mi
• Angels Camp — 1.6 mi
• Angels Hotel — 1.6 mi