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History of Covina
Like many Americans,
we Covinans have long held a deep and sentimental attachment
to our local schools, trees and parks.
The history of our lands goes back much further,
but from the earliest beginnings of Covina proper,
the block at the southeast corner of Citrus and San Berdoo,
from San Bernardino Road to School Street,
and from Citrus Avenue to Second Avenue,
has been public land.
In 1882, Joseph Swift (some say Samuel) Phillips,
was our city’s founder and the original organizer.
We know him as the Father of Covina.
He purchased the 2000 acres that would become Covina
for “$15 per acre and a long time on the payments”,
from their owner, John E. Hollenbeck, a Los Angeles banker,
for a total price of $30,000.
Mr. Phillips’ holdings ran from the roads we know today as San Bernardino to the north, Grand to the east, the San Bernardino Freeway to the south, and midway between Lark Ellen and Vincent to the west. Neighboring property owners were then E. J. “Lucky” Baldwin on the south, William R. Rowland on the west, and J. E Hollenbeck on the east.
Further back,
He planted his estate to barley and in 1883, hired Frederick Eaton,
a prominent young engineer who would later be elected the mayor of Los Angeles,
to survey and subdivide his tract into 10 acre lots.
He reserved 120 acres at the center of the northern edge of his holdings for the town center.
He also set aside land for a school; the whole block containing today’s fire & police stations and Civic Park.
Michael Baldridge donated the lumber and $1000 for construction expenses,
and the WHOLE COMMUNITY helped build Covina’s first school
right there, on that site.
Everyone with a hammer came and chipped in on the carpentering.
Mr. Phillips & Mr. Baldridge provided a number of trees
and everyone worked together to plant them
with the specific aim of creating a campus that would double as a park.
They started in October.
By November, they had built a tight little white 3-room schoolhouse.
Mr. Phillips also sprung for the first year’s teacher’s salary.
The Phillips School opened in December 1883, and served students until 1895.
In 1884, before Covina had its own school district,
J. S. Phillips deeded that school lot to the Azusa School District as a gift to our community, specifying in the deed that the site must always remain public land.
Mr Baldridge owned the school building however,
so he rented it to the Azusa School District
until they could afford to buy it from him.
Back then, the fledgling Covina community worked closely with the surrounding older cities to fulfill residents’ needs.
In 1885, the first two fruit trees planted in Covina proper were a Salway peach and a French prune, donated by J.R. Hodges, the owner and proprietor of the Covina Nursery.
In 1886, the first orange tree in Covina was planted, also out of Hodges’ nursery, which began the citrus industry that built Covina over the following 50 years.
When the area’s first graded school opened in 1887, Center School in Azusa, Mr. Phillips’ son George hauled the older students from the Phillips School up to Center School in our first school bus, a wagon pulled by two mules.
By 1891, the Citrus Union High School District had formed
to serve the 17 (!) high school students in Azusa, Covina, and Glendora.
Our valley’s was the first Union High School District in the State,
after which many more were modeled.
Citrus Union High School occupied an abandoned hotel and later an abandoned saloon,
both at the corner of Gladstone & Citrus in the abandoned town of Gladstone.
Their first graduation was held in 1894.
Covina’s population was growing very quickly by then.
Overcrowding of the single classroom of the Phillips School had inspired Dr J. D. Reed in 1894 to lead a mass meeting of citizens who decided to plan and build a new grammar school on the original site. They called this one the Reed School.
In 1896, the boundaries of the Covina School District were drawn and the District was formed. The Azusa School District gave over the Reed School and an agreement was struck to share ownership of the library.
By 1898 the tri-city Citrus High School Union was proud to have 6 Citrus High alumni enrolled at the University of California and two at Pomona College.
By 1899, overcrowding at the Reed School prompted the addition of an assembly hall and classrooms at the front of the existing building.
That same year, Covina’s pride overcame her.
Our 4(!) high school students deserved their own High School District, so the Citizens of Covina held an election, withdrew from the Citrus Union HSD and formed the Covina High School District, which included and absorbed the Covina School District. Of course, the four high school students still needed a school to attend, so they shared the Reed School building as earlier high school students had done, until 1903.
Covina incorporated as a city and changed the name of the school district to Covina School District in 1902. Citizens voted a $10,000 bond for a new High School building right next door to the Reed School.
It opened in 1903; a big two story building on San Bernardino, facing north. It had central heating, electric light fixtures, and speaking tubes from each classroom to the principal’s office. There were four rooms, plus an office and library on the first floor, and an assembly hall with a stage and dressing rooms, two classrooms, and a physical sciences laboratory on the second floor. They built it for only $8000 and named it the Phillips School, after the first grammar school on the site.
In 1908, the voters elected to build a larger high school, choosing a property at the northwest corner of Citrus and Puente, on the block defined by Third and Dexter. (The Oak Tree Walk housing project was completed on part that site last year)
By five votes, the citizens supported a $65,000 bond. The election was declared illegal on a technicality, and so they voted again. Same outcome. In 1909, they laid the cornerstone of a spectacular two story building, built for $75,000, facing south on Puente.
By 1918, the Reed School on today’s Civic Park was bursting at its seams and the citizens met en masse again. We needed another school. The Reed School was razed and horses pulled the huge Phillips School building a block east. They rolled it on logs over to the site where it stands today, at the Southwest corner of Second & School, where the Masonic Lodge has occupied it continuously ever since. It’s the magnificent white building with the tall Corinthian (?) columns, right across from the library.
In 1919, they completed the final new school on the original Phillips School site. Covina Grammar School was a large and graceful architectural achievement built of concrete. It had a classroom for every grade, magnificent athletic facilities, and an auditorium that for many years would hold all of the elementary students in town at once. There was a steady enrollment of about 500 students through the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. Many alumni of Covina Grammar School still live in Covina and most remember it fondly. That school stayed open through 1953, when social unrest and structural analysis led to the school’s closure. Despite overcrowding in all the local schools, Covina Grammar School’s students were distributed among them, and in January of 1954, Covina Grammar School was abandoned.
(Part II to follow;
Civic Park: The Later Years until Today)
Posted by Duff  a 38 year old from Covina on 03/10/05
Covina Valley Historical Society
Responses: (1) (2) (3) (4) Post Reply 
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- Re: History of Covina
I believe that saying the corner where Civic Center Park is located has always been public land is incorrect. I distinctly remember that when I worked for Aerojet General Corporation in the early to mid 1960's that land was occupied by a division of Aerojet (I think it was called Aetron). I don't know how long it was there afterwards but it was definitely there in the 1960s.
Posted by Ryal on 03/10/05
Responses: (0) (1) (2) (3) Reply (to this)(main)
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- Re: History of Covina
Welp now Ryal, that's obviously Part II,
(coming soon, as noted) post-1954, post school use.
I want to get all the facts straight first,
substantiated by good references
and incontrovertible legal documentation.
Are you one of those good references?
If so, can you help with the rest of the story?
I'd very much to appreciate any facts you might want to share.
What I do know is that the use of land does not determine its ownership.
My understanding is that Aerojet leased the property from the School District,
for what was then a very good deal for Aerojet,
and not so good for the School District.
The Arcade Property on Citrus, just north of Italia,
is a similar modern-day example.
I am told that it is owned by the City of Covina
(or the Covina Redevelopment Agency?)
and is thus public property.
It is leased by the City (or the CRA?)
to at least two private enterprise retailers
at discounted market rates, on a 30-day notice basis,
It is my understanding that the rents are paid to the City,
thus keeping that public asset generating revenue to the public kitty.
Posted by Duff a 38 year old from Covina on 03/10/05
Covina Valley Historical Society
Responses: (0) (1) (2) Reply (to this)(main)
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- Re: History of Covina
I probably wouldn't be much help. You have a lot of resources, while all I have is what I remember and the fact that I've been around a long time (too long?). I wondered when I wrote that if Aerojet had leased the property, but all I stated was what I knew.
By the way, I should congratulate you for getting the fourth highest vote count. I must temper that by saying that I think there were seven or eight of the candidates leaned one way and only three or four of you the other way resulting in the majority taking away more votes from each other than the minority. Good campaign anyway.
Posted by Ryal on 03/10/05
Responses: (0) (1) Reply (to this)(main)
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- Re: History of Covina
Thank you very much for noticing.
I am deeply grateful for the strong support.
Hard work is behind every vote captured.
I carry an evolving message on behalf of many.
I am snickering quietly over the leaning moment.
If I lean, it’s forward (and often hearken back).
I can snicker without serious repercussions, right? ;)
I may even hoot if provoked.
There was only one of me on that ballot,
and only ever will be.
Your points were also noted here in forward country:
that at least one major lean was quite well represented
and that that cat ate itself a little.
It ate more from the other bowls.
It is also true that most of my fellows,
from both bowls, agree with me some of the time.
That’s in a community though,
where strong non-partisan voices have yet to flourish.
There’s a lot of untapped potential there,
so better keep your mind wide open.
Don’t be afraid, it’ll be good!
It’s great to live in a community
where freedoms of assembly and expression
are so well defended.
CPD rocks.
(and honks)
We’re having a 4sale party in the park this weekend.
Want to come?
Posted by Duff a 38 year old from Covina on 03/10/05
duff.org
Responses: (0) Reply (to this)(main)
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