Arizona's First Public School

Arizona's first public school opened in an old adobe here in January 1868, five months after Pima County created the school district. Fifty-five boys enrolled. The teacher, a former legislative clerk named Augustus Brichta, taught for six months but was paid for only four, and when the money ran out the school closed. Public education in the territory started this haltingly, a refitted room with new windows and desks built on the spot, supplies hauled up from Hermosillo. Tucson would not sustain a public school until the 1870s.

What the plaque says

November 18, 1867, the Pima County Board of Supervisors created Tucson School District 1. An old adobe building at this location was refitted for classes. Desks and benches were built, new windows were installed in the 25' x 40' classroom, and school supplies were purchased from Hermosillo, Sonora. The semester opened in January, 1868, with an enrollment of 55 boys. Augustus Brichta, formerly a clerk in the Territorial Legislature, taught for six months, though he was paid for only four. This first public school in the Territory then closed for lack of funding.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tucson — steps away
  The Old Pueblo — four thousand years of farming under the sky islands
• Mission San Xavier del Bac — 8.1 mi
  The White Dove of the Desert — the finest Spanish Baroque church in the country
• Saguaro National Park — 21 mi
  The giant cactus, and the O'odham who count it as kin

More markers nearby

• Edward Nye Fish House — steps away
• The First Presbyterian Church in Tucson — steps away
• Commemorating the Raising of the First American Flag within the Walled City of Tucson — steps away
• August 20th Park — steps away