When my family moved to Sun Valley in 1950, I hadn’t been born yet—I arrived in October of 1951.
My oldest brother, nine years older than me, was already attending school. At that time, classes were held in the Community Hall at 5360 Sun Valley Boulevard. Over the years, the Hall served many purposes, including the Sun Valley Land Owners Association, a Head Start program, the Sun Valley Senior Center, and today it is home to Super Tres Amigos, LLC.
Back then, the Hall was a one-room schoolhouse serving grades one through eight. Sun Valley kids were tough—sometimes a little too tough—and the school had trouble keeping teachers. Then one day, Mrs. Lois Allen walked in carrying a stack of comic books in one arm and a box of Tootsie Rolls in the other. Her thinking was simple: kids like candy, and they just might read a comic book.
Sometime in the early 1950s, a two-room schoolhouse was moved from Spanish Springs, located on the Gaspari Ranch, to Sun Valley at the corner of 5th Avenue and Leon Drive.
Washoe County soon added four more classrooms to accommodate grades one through six—there was no kindergarten at the time. Mrs. Allen ran the school with a firm hand, backed up by a large paddle labeled “Heat for the Seat.”
When I started first grade in 1957, the Sun Valley school was called Spanish Springs Elementary, and it remained so through my third-grade years. I still have report cards from those early days.
There were no paved roads except for Sun Valley Drive, no school buses, and most families had only one car. Year-round, we walked or rode bicycles to and from school. My dad wouldn’t let us ride our bikes—he was sure they’d be stolen or someone would cut the tires—so walking it was. Winters could be brutal, but we didn’t think much of it at the time.
Things are very different today. There is no iron fist or paddle. In 1991, a new elementary school was built at 5155 McGuffey Road, named in honor of Lois Allen. By then, only a few old timers were still living in the valley. My mother, Mary Moore, was invited to the dedication ceremony, where she placed a trowel of cement on the cornerstone. My two brothers and 2 sisters and I attended, and it was a proud moment for our family. Today, Sun Valley has four elementary schools and one middle school, Desert Skies Middle School.
In those early days, two dirt roads connected Sun Valley to town: Sullivan Lane, which ran from Wedekind Road to Sun Valley Drive, and Clear Acre Road, which did the same. Sun Valley Drive, itself, began at First Avenue. In 1957–58, the Nevada Department of Transportation paved Sun Valley Drive up to Seventh Avenue. Because the state paved it, the road became State Highway 443. It always amazed me that a state highway could just dead-end like that. When it snowed, the state plowed that stretch once a day—but we still had to battle the unmaintained side roads on our own.
Next month, I’ll talk about when power and telephone service came to the valley—and how we kids found our own ways to pass the time.
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