De Luz Schoolhouse

There’s a little one-room schoolhouse in De Luz – the only other existing one-room schoolhouse that I know of in this area, is in Anza, and it’s the school my great-grandma attended. She was born in 1904, lived to be 100-years-old, and rode a donkey five miles to get to school. But this post isn’t about her, it’s about the schoolhouse in De Luz – which is situated in the prettiest oak grove. It’s peaceful and quiet, the ground is fertile and rich, and the oak trees are the tallest I’ve ever seen. It’s paradise.

De Luz Schoolhouse
De Luz Elementary was built in 1927 and one teacher taught all eight grades. In 1968 the school was closed, and since then the building has been used as De Luz Ecology Center.

De Luz Post Office
The tiny post office may look like someone’s idea of a little joke, but there really are mailboxes in the side of the building.

I’ve shot in the area many times, but today was different. It was a gray cloudy day, and the light was flat except for a few brief moments when the sun broke through. But flat, subdued light can be be quite beautiful if you have the right subject matter. So this time I didn’t shoot the big soaring trees, or try for majestic landscapes – instead I mostly went after the subtle details that usually get lost in stronger light. And I found some wickedly beautiful details…

De Luz
Leaves on an oak tree.

De Luz

De Luz

De Luz
Have you ever seen grass this pretty?

De Luz
Where they’ve cut off a limb, the tree oozes sap.

De Luz

De Luz

De Luz

De Luz

Sheep in De Luz
These sheep are very lucky – they live in paradise, have plenty of room to roam, and look healthy and happy.

I was the only human in the area, so I thought they were all watching me, but shortly after I shot this image I saw some coyote footprints, and it occurred to me that this was the kind of day when wildlife is more active – and it’s the exact kind of day I’ve seen bobcats and mountain lions in the past, and here I was all by myself, with no other humans around, and I was concentrating on blades of grass and leaves? I’m usually smarter than that… So I decided to call it a day, and got back to my car, and then watched as a nice-looking healthy coyote trotted across the street. I am not afraid of one lone coyote, but a mountain lion is a different matter.

Oak Tree
And finally I shot this image on the way out to De Luz. I shot the same tree in December on a pretty sunny day, and the difference today, just two months later was striking. Where the hill was brown before, today it was green. Where the sky was bright blue in December, today it was gray. Very, very different day, and very different image – but still a really beautiful and striking tree.

De Luz
And the freshest little weed…

For more on the De Luz Schoolhouse, go to:
http://www.fallbrook.org/history/de-luz-school.asp

9 Replies to “De Luz Schoolhouse”

  1. Miss deluz… 12 miles deep , long time
    Went to school @ old schoolhouse after getting kicked out of …….. not LA palaoma,, but .? The next one…?….,,
    Anyway not important, I guess,..
    Only had to walk across river to get there. Miss the store
    And DE Luz red bats! Stage stop with the rope bridge from the trail to my double wide! Hidden lakes and the boat house, and not being able to go home fore at least a month after big floods! Crazy witch living up tenaja truck trail on way to wild horses ( motorcycle trail to rt on way up) (crazy bitch) probably dead by now..^@#$%*£
    Taking the VERY LONG way around! While picking white sage n Yerba santa. And being one of the 3 non Mexicans on the school buds/I mean bus/ but they had the buds.,,,!!!!!!! (Miss u juan)
    Then the was the rich kids, closer to town..
    I enjoined my time living far away.

    1. Hi, my name is Bev.
      What a joy to remember the wonderful times at De Luz school. My brother Mike and I were students in 1953 and 1954. It will always be home. Thank you for the beautiful photo journey and visit.

  2. My mother-in-law, Janet Abbott, worked for SD County Schools and would come to this little school house to check in on the children and staff.

  3. It says the only other one room school house that you know of is in Anza. There is a one room school house in Rainbow. Vallecitos, it was turned into a house in the 1950’s.

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