San Gabriel Valley : Old Mt. Baldy Schoolhouse Is Dedicated as Visitor Center

Nestled among trees in the Angeles National Forest, the old Mt. Baldy schoolhouse reminds Diane Reed of the seemingly enchanted years she spent there as a student, and later as a teacher.

She remembers the sound of the hand-rung bell that signaled the beginning of class, and the children who lined up to salute the flag outside.

Last weekend, Reed, 55, helped guide the renovated schoolhouse into its next phase, emceeing its dedication as the U.S. Forest Service’s Mt. Baldy Visitor Center. In front of about 250 visitors, Reed played the role of a teacher in the school’s heyday, wearing clothing from the 1920s.

The schoolhouse was built in 1921, and its first class comprised only eight students, one of whom was Reed’s father. He went on to live and work in the 4,000-foot-altitude settlement as a stonemason, and when his daughter was old enough, she entered the school, which educated local children in the first eight grades.

Her teacher, Dorothy Wisely, has rosy memories of Reed as a little girl.

“She was always the perfect student, very sweet-mannered,” said Wisely, 86. A local history buff, she said she was flabbergasted at the celebration when it was announced that a museum of local history would be opened in her name in a building just steps away from the old schoolhouse.

The center is used during the week as an environmental education classroom for local grade-school students. It will also be staffed on weekends with rangers and volunteers knowledgeable in the area’s history and natural surroundings.

The school was closed in the 1970s because it failed to meet earthquake standards. But Reed, now a first-grade teacher in Long Beach, said it will always have a place in her heart.

“I feel really lucky having known that one little place on the planet,” she said.