Historically
speaking
Machado School
1895-2015
Morgan Hill Schools
Back in
the Day
Written By Mike Monroe
82
T
alk about geography and history
lessons, that’s what you’ll get
when the subject is schools in
the environs of Morgan Hill. In the early
1850’s, families with young children began
to settle the vast expanses of southern
Santa Clara County. Neither Gilroy nor
Morgan Hill were incorporated cities yet
and primary education was a home-based
adventure. Still, with the population
growing because of the Gold Rush and the
wide open prospects for new beginnings in
California, newcomers sought early on to
formalize the education of their children.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
JULY / AUGUST 2015
Most early maps, such as the 1876
Thompson and West map, delineated
Burnett Township (formerly Coyote,
Madrone, and Tennant and now Morgan
Hill) by rural school districts such as Llagas,
Uvas, and Packwood. The countryside was
divided into elementary school districts as
more families moved into particular areas.
Initially each district was independently
operated having its own schoolhouse and
teacher. Most of these schools are now
gone as modern transportation led to the
consolidation of schools.
Today, the Morgan Hill Unified
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