My mother went her freshman year here, she was in the class of 37, so the new school was just a 3 year high school at the time. I don't know why I wasn't watching this being torn down, I only lived two blocks away and was seven, must have had the area blocked off.

Jim Gray on 3rd August 2015 @ 7:12am

GREAT picture Arthur. Pete and I remember well why they put safety glass in the gym exit doors and he has the scar that prompted them. Famous names, not my focus in those early 50s years....8th grade dance and Jean Button...

Arlen Sheldrake on 3rd August 2015 @ 7:52am

It amazes me how many school buildings Hood River County has built in not much more than a century.

Longshot on 3rd August 2015 @ 9:02am

My mother talked about going here and having Mr. Durland as a teacher. He was the principal when I attended. I also remember when it was torn down. They had planned to build the new middle school over the summer. They didn't count on a steel strike. The 6th and 8th grade had classes in the gym and the 7th grade came to the high school.

Norma on 3rd August 2015 @ 10:34am

Maybe I missed it but why was such a magnificent building torn down and replaced by a one story rather plain building?

nels on 3rd August 2015 @ 11:42am

I attended May Street Jr. High from Sept. 1952 to June 1955 in the last class to experience the intact building for all 3 years. However, like Arlen, I do not recall any names inscribed under the eaves. My teachers were Mr. Thompson (6th grade), Milton Enny (7th grade) with Mrs. Kemp (just for English & Spelling), and Miss Davis (8th grade). I can't remember who my PE teacher was. And most of us call the principal, "Pop" Durland.

Bill Seaton on 3rd August 2015 @ 3:20pm

Here's one funny little memory about the building: The main floor hallway had a line painted down the middle of it and when going from class to class, you were supposed to walk on the right side of the center line just like a car on the highway.

Bill Seaton on 3rd August 2015 @ 4:24pm

Gene Peyton, Mrs. Kemp and Olive Fisher for me.
Other names that come to mind Willard Schilling (basketball), Miss Sherwood (Music), Mr. Gordon and of course, Mr. Durland.
On the eastside of the school there was a small clump of trees surrounding an ancient cast concrete bench. Further up the hill there were three defense houses that housed teachers and their families.
The underneath the staircase on the west side was an endless source of fascination for the boys. Over the years it had accumulated marbles, money and bottle caps. All openings were well screened to keep out our grubby little hands. Between the gym and main building I have a vague memory of a slanted tube extending from the top floor to the ground that was a fire escape.

LMH on 4th August 2015 @ 12:51am

I was in the first sixth grade class at the new May Street Upper Elementary. My teacher was Miss Olive Fischer. Mr. Reed was next door. Seventh grade teachers were Gene Cecil Payton, Mr. Ennie, Mrs. Simon (left at semester, replaced by Miss Jackson). Eighth grade teachers were Mr. Schilling, Mrs. Stestak, and ?. I think Paula Clark might have been still teaching fifth grade (I had her at Park Street, always thought she was the best elementary teacher I had).

Carl Shinkle on 30th May 2016 @ 12:17pm

Love this old school. Does it still look like this?

LaVita Drake on 27th July 2020 @ 5:05pm

I attended the junior high. Had Miss Davis for sixth and eighth grade home room, Mrs Shestak for seventh. I loved tge library adjacent to Mrs Shestak's room. She used to let me gomthere if I finished my work early.
LoTs of good books in there. In Miss Davis's room, when it was foggy, we could watch the houses across the street disappear, then the power poles, then the street itself, untill we were all alone in a grey world.

Mr. Durland used to play the musical saw for usnat assemblies. "star of the East" wasMy favorite selection because of the tremolo that vibrated the bleachers so that we could feel the high notes in our butts. Occasionally his son would play "
Trumpeter's Lullaby on his cornet..

Barbara Parsons on 18th November 2020 @ 7:47pm