Historical Marker · No. 587
First Public School
San Francisco, San Francisco County · California
Erected by Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of California, 1957
The first public school in California was public in its management and private in its money. The town council built a one-room schoolhouse on this corner of the plaza late in 1847, after a private school had closed, and tuition paid almost all its costs. A census the school trustees took that winter counted some 800 people in town, 473 of them men and 60 of them children of school age. Thomas Douglas, a Yale graduate, opened it on 3 April 1848 and had forty-three pupils a month later. No state plaque stands here.
What the plaque says
This marks the site of the first public school in California Erected in 1847 Opened April 3, 1848 This commemorative marker was erected in 1957 by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of California. California Historical Landmark 587
Where it stands
37.79461, -122.40545 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Portsmouth Plaza — steps away
- Eastern Terminus of Clay Street Hill Railroad — steps away
- Site of the Jenny Lind Theatre and San Francisco City Hall — steps away
- Office of the California Star Newspaper — steps away