In the city of Azusa in Los Angeles’s San Gabriel Valley, a rare one-room schoolhouse has been carefully moved to an honored location, rehabilitated and restored, marking its new use as a community center, polling place, and educational resource for all area residents.
Culminating in its recent dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony, the landmark also offers a poignant reminder of the region’s segregated past.
The relocation, restoration, and curating of the 130 m2 (1,400 sf) building as a historic landmark was initiated by the city government and overseen by the architecture firm Page & Turnbull.
Originally built to house Azusa’s first kindergarten classes, the architecturally significant building became used as a school for children of Mexican descent in 1929, when the associated elementary school was expanded.
For nearly 20 years, the one-room, wood-frame Craftsman-style schoolhouse came to be known as a school serving only students of Mexican heritage.
The Old Schoolhouse also served as a segregated polling site, the only one where Mexican-American citizens were allowed to vote.
Completed in November 2025, the reconstruction was comprehensive, taking roughly nine months to complete and requiring the replacement of missing or damaged wood siding, walls, ceilings, and floors.
