Eureka Union School District

Take a step back in time, leaving laptops and cell phones and smart boards behind, and enter a world of inkwells, wooden desks, slate blackboards and wood-burning stoves. A new school was built in 1868, about a half mile west of the present Eureka School site on the old Sacramento-Auburn wagon road.

On February 5, 1868, a group of citizens formed the Excelsior School District, which lay between the Dry Creek and Franklin districts. In 1875, just seven years later, growth forced the fledgling Excelsior School District to build a new school one-half mile closer to Roseville. The school furniture was handmade and the room was large enough for 35 children. By 1881, even the new facilities became crowded because there were 40 students enrolled that year.

The Excelsior District existed for 39 years. In 1908, due to feuding families, the school district was divided in two, forming the Excelsior and Rosedale districts. As time passed, the family feud was forgotten and a growing segment of the community felt that if the two smaller districts would unite and form a union district, their children could receive a better education. The Eureka Union Elementary School District was formed, the present Eureka School site was obtained and in the summer of 1925, the two old one-room school houses were moved to the Eureka site.