Manteca High’s first buildings popped up on the campus in 1920.

They were located near present-day Yosemite Avenue.

The original location was likely in the shadow — or even in the northern footprint — of where the two-story building with 32 classrooms and a media center along Sherman Avenue is currently under construction.

These are not the buildings that multiple generations referenced as being grouped around the beloved mission-style tower and accompanying auditorium. They had yet to be started and would not be completed until 1923.

Up until 1920, those in Manteca who wanted an education had to travel to Stockton.

The general region was well supplied with grammar schools:

*French Camp built in 1850 on the same property where today’s school stands.

*Castle (on present day French Camp Road west of Austin Road) built in the 1870s.

*Lathrop (also known early on as Tulare) built in 1875 on “I” Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets.

*East Union, with the original grammar school being built along today’s Airport Way south of Lovelace Road in the 1880s before being replaced with a school on the southeast corner of Union Road and Louise Avenue.

*Atlanta, created in 1860 from portions of the Castle and East Union school districts, was built in 1861 on French Camp Road near Due Road west of Manteca.

*Rustic created from the Tulare (Lathrop) and East Union districts opened its first school in 1878 south of Manteca. It had several versions including one built in 1920 that is now a private residence along Airport Way less than a mile south of the city limits.

*Mossdale, that opened in 1898, at old Highway 120 and Howland Road.

*Calla, built in 1901, on the southeast corner of East Highway 120 and Austin Road.

*Summer Home built in 1906 on the southwest corner of Southland Road and Cottage Avenue.

*Yosemite School, originally opened in 1912 on the second floor of the Board of Trade building in the 200 block of West Yosemite Avenue.

*Golden West started in 1915 on North Union Road between Lathrop Road and French Camp Road.

*Veritas School opened in 1916 on Veritas Road south of Manteca.

The leaders of the various grammar school districts, in the first two decades of the 20th century, agreed a local high school was a necessity but the idea was abandoned because it was deemed too expensive.

The residents of the Castle School District were completely against the idea of forming a union high school. They were content with the fact their children could catch the “Toonerville Train” — the Tidewater Southern — to travel to and from high school in Stockton.

Eventually, the idea of a local high school gained traction. A debate, though, developed over whether it should be located in Lathrop, Manteca, or somewhere more central.

The voters on May 19, 1920 voted to form the high school district.

The original trustees were elected in August of that year. They were Ed Powers who was the first president, L.L. Miller, P.L. Wisdom, Guss Schmiedt, and Eva Patterson.

Nineteen men in the community pooled their money to build the first high school buildings.

They were temporary wooden buildings.

Dan Baysinger was hired today construct two small classrooms, an office, a study hall, and library.

The two long wooden buildings were covered with tar paper. From various accounts, they were far from sound-proof.

When it rain, the roofs leaked.

A $200,000 bond was approved by the voters on Dec. 23, 1921.

Over 1,500 people attended the all-day ceremony and toured the new school.

All of the doors were solid oak, the floors were hardwood, and the rooms were heated by steam from a furnace in the basement.

The auditorium seated 550 people.

The gym was in top of the stage, measuring 76 feet. It was equipped with a net across the stage to keep the flying balls out of the auditorium or people from falling into the orchestra pit.

As a side note, several times in the ensuing years, the net did not work and someone fell into the pit. Eventually, the pit was removed.

Those original buildings were moved to the southern part of the campus when the mission-style campus was built.

The $200,000 tab in 1921 to build an entire campus is a long way from the $56 million cost of the 32-classroom and media center going up in the two-story building complex along Sherman Avenue.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com