THE CLASS OF 1996 WAS THE
ONE-HUNDREDTH
group of graduates to receive diplomas from Paso Robles High School.
Built in 1892 on land donated by city founders, Blackburn and James, in
the block bounded by Oak, Vine, and Sixteenth and Seventeenth streets,
the old three-story brick school was the first high school in the
county.
The stately building had eight classrooms, two
recitation rooms, an office, and a 600-seat auditorium on the third
floor. After the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, the third story
developed some cracks and was eventually removed. The entire building
was razed in 1939 to make way for the Primary School (presently Marie
Bauer School).
In 1924 a new high school [pictured above] was
constructed in a grove of oak trees on the corner of Spring and 24th
streets. This building, too, was built of the traditional Paso Robles
brick. It was ivy-covered and boasted massive oak entrance doors. The
auditorium was designed with state-of-the-art acoustics in hope that
Ignace Paderewski would use the stage for concert performances. Although
that never happened, hundreds of students sang, danced, played and
received diplomas in that gracious hall.
Through the decades other amenities were added to the
school grounds, including the gymnasium, the home economics building,
science facilities, a woodshop, the agriculture building, a music room,
and War Memorial Stadium. In the 1960's, the main building was
completely refurbished.
The third incarnation of Paso Robles High School
opened in 1980 on Niblick Road, and the old high school became the
George H. Flamson Middle School.
All three schools held cherished memories for the many
young people who passed through their halls. Here are some of those
memories in the words of those who lived them.
LESTER DAUTH'S
STORY 
