Looking east from Felter Road

Laguna School

Laguna School was the first school constructed in the Milpitas area. It was built where Felter Road and Calaveras Road intersected. This made it easier for the students who lived on the ranches and farms for miles around to attend. According to Patricia Loomis' book, Milpitas, the Century of Little Cornfields 1852-1952, Laguna School was built in 1856 as a one room school 24 by 30 feet at a cost of $600. The school underwent many changes in its 70 year lifespan. The front cloakroom was added about 20 years after initial construction and the second outer siding was put on about the same time.

In the 1880s teachers who worked at Laguna School were Rosalie O'Brian, P. Henning, Miss Emma Watkins, George Kraft, T.W. Whitehurst, and Stella Herndon. The trustees included J.W. Greenfield, Alfred Felter (for whom the road is named), H. H. Flagg, and Michael Hughes, who had built the first wood frame house along Penitencia Creek on modern Main Street probably between modern Serra and Carlo Streets.

When enrollment declined below the required minimum of five students, in 1943, the old school closed its doors. The last teacher there was Mrs. Naomi Pinard.

In 1949, Laguna School was sold for $575 to a nearby rancher, Mildred Beans. Mrs. Beans modified the building to use as a barn. It continued to be used as a barn and storage shed by subsequent owners until 2000.

In 2000, the Historical Society began efforts to move it to another location to prevent its demolition. However, the new owners, Mr. and Mrs. Hare, decided to keep the school and to restore it.