Way to go Mason School wrestlers! Mason is a middle school with 6th to 8th graders located in the Proctor district in Tacoma. The school originally opened in 1926 and then later demolished in 2001 and the new and approved school was opened in 2003.
Annie Wright is the oldest boarding school in the Pacific Northwest, located in North Tacoma with a view of Commencement Bay (Puget Sound). It was founded in 1884 by Charles Wright nine years before there were paved roads in Tacoma. He established the school because Tacoma residents had no place to send their daughters for education. C. Wright named the school after his daughter, Annie Wright. Currently, half of the 450 attending students are boarding students and the other half live in Tacoma and surrounding areas. It is a college preparatory school for girls and boys grades K-8 and girls from grades 9-12. Growing up in the surrounding area I really didn’t know much about the Annie Wright school. I remember as a child driving by this big tudor brick building and remarking how cool it looked with its clean and manicured grounds. Over the years it has become well known and has grown in size of student body since the late 1900’s. Visit http://www.aw.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1 to get more information.
The history of the building is rather interesting. In 1890 the 9 acre parcel was purchased by Northern Pacific Railroad and Tacoma Land Company to build a luxury hotel and started construction in 1891. Then the depression hit, construction was stopped and the unfinished building was used to store lumber. Northern Pacific lost interest in building a hotel and put it on the market. The Tacoma school district paid $34,500 for the property and in September 1906, Stadium High School opened for class. The entire project cost the Tacoma School District approx. $500,000. For more information regarding the history of Stadium High School go to: http://www.klippert.com/Stadium/History.html With the numerous remodels over the years the school continues to retain the French Chateau look. Can you imagine being a student sitting in class or eating lunch everyday and looking at the fabulous view!
Next to the school is what is called “The Bowl” which is Stadium High School’s field. In the picture you can see the football team practicing on a beautiful sunny day (I know it looks like blue dots, I should of used my telephoto lens)! Before anything was built there it was recognized as the “Old Woman’s Gulch”. The name came from widowed women of fisherman and loggers that lived there as squatters in the woods. A stadium was built in 1910 and used for many different events. During the earlier years the Bowl held horse drawn chariot races, marching band competitions, firework displays. There were also performances and speeches by famous people such as Louis Armstrong, Babe Ruth, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to name a few. Over the years of 1930 – 1980 the Bowl went through numerous renovations due to a major earthquake and several floods. The “Bowl was then dedicated again in October 1985 and is still in operation today as the High Schools stadium for athletic events. I think it is one of the most beautiful High Schools I’ve seen, and I’m proud to say it sits in the city of Tacoma!
