George Washington High School
Students, Faculty, Alumni, History

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History Article: George Washington’s Proud Beginnings

2006 George Washington High School Graduates—by Dennis Beedie

When George Washington High School was a rock quarry, 1861 – cable cars (or their forerunners) were pulled by horses, gold strikes were common occurrences, clipper ships sailed the Pacific; and San Franciscans of that day had the vision to provide for schools, and especially for one particular school located at what is now 32nd Avenue and Anza Street.

Seventy-five years later, in 1936 financed partly by a bond issue, partly by the Federal Government, Washington High School was erected at a cost of approximately $2,000,000.

THE BACKGROUND OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

“The foresight of San Francisco pioneers is reflected in the total investment for a section of the George Washington High School site, as far back as 1861, when 150 x 240 feet was set aside for school purposes under the provisions of the outside lands act. Out of this nucleus the remainder of the site was purchased by the Board of Education in 1925.”

The above paragraph, an excerpt from a program of the Ground Breaking Exercises which took place November 4, 1934, at 31st Avenue and Anza Street, shows that our school was considered, planned for, back in the days when the Richmond district was sand dunes.

GENERAL PLANS, ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE

The general plans for Washington called for a main academic unit, shops, an auditorium, boys’ and girls’ gymnasiums, football field, outdoor tennis and basketball courts, a music conservatory, a baseball field, a running track and a swimming pool.

Timothy L. Pflueger, architect of George Washington High School, died almost ten years to the day that Washington celebrated its tenth anniversary. Mr. Pflueger was world-famous in his field, having worked on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and many of the buildings of the Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939. Union Square Garage was designed by Mr. Pflueger in 1942; Alamo and Jefferson grammar schools, and Roosevelt Junior High School were completed by him before 1930. His later projects were George Washington, then Lincoln High School, and the Science building and gymnasium at San Francisco Junior College.

Source: Surveyor, 25th Anniversary, 1961 (extracted by Dennis Beedie)