Rocky Point in Klamath County, Oregon — The American West (Northwest)
Crystal Recreation Area
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, December 9, 2012
1. Crystal Recreation Area Marker
Erected by Klamath County Historical Society.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Parks & Recreational Areas. A significant historical year for this entry is 1893.
Location. 42° 34.557′ N, 122° 5.187′ W. Marker is in Rocky Point, Oregon, in Klamath County. Marker can be reached from Westside Road (Route 531). Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Klamath Falls OR 97601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 14 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Klamath Fish Hatchery (approx. 8.8 miles away); UMC Indian Mission (approx. 9˝ miles away); Ft. Klamath Frontier Post (approx. 9.8 miles away); The First Sawmill (approx. 9.8 miles away); The Town of Fort Klamath (approx. 9.9 miles away); Fort Klamath Military Cemetery Memorial (approx. 10 miles away); Site of Fort Klamath (approx. 10 miles away); Denny Creek (approx. 13.6 miles away).
Regarding Crystal Recreation Area. The Klamath County Historical Society had a website link to an article on the history of this school (weblink no longer exists)
this page online
Crystal#18 -- 1893-1943
The school district #18 in Klamath County originally comprised the area from about Four-mile Spring on the North to Rock Creek (Denny Creek) on the South and from the mountain to Klamath Lake.The building at Crystal was erected in 1893 by D.G. Brown and Ben Peterman at the head of Crystal Creek. The lumber was brought in by barge from the Rufus Moore Mill on Link River. Its square nails had come in by freight from San Francisco in 1892.
Miss Farrar of Klamath Falls was the first teacher, the term ending at Thanksgiving time. Teachers to follow were Mary Johnson, Jessie Rose, Allen Holt, John Stuart, Austin Holt and Annie J. Stockwell who became Mrs. Gilbert Brown. Miss Stockwell graded the school in 1900. Later, a two year high school was added. District #18, being large, operated several schools: one at Crystal, one at Odessa, and a school building on skids was moved with the camp of the Pelican Bay Lumber Company in the area. The Crystal, Odessa, and Pelican Bay schools were administered by a single board of directors.
Doris Ady Peyton who taught a six-month term at Crystal in 1922 says it took her all day to reach there from Klamath Falls. At daybreak, she took a train to Chiloquin, and traveled by sled the rest of the way to the home of Mrs. Fred Brown where she boarded. There were 11
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, December 9, 2012
2. Crystal Recreation Area Marker
(The site of the school is noted as having been repurposed as a picnic site in a June 1970 article of the Herald and News. As of this writing in 2012, a hand water pump remains at the site, just north of the picnic site and along the east edge of the Westside Road.)
The only remnant remaining from the school is an old hand water pump that resides a number of feet behind the historical marker.
Also see . . . Daniel Gilbert Brown obituary. The life of Daniel Brown, who established Crystal School (Submitted on December 7, 2016, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon.)
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, December 9, 2012
3. Crystal Recreation Area Marker
Photographed By Douglass Halvorsen, October 6, 2013
4. Crystal School hand water pump
The only remnant of Crystal School is this old hand water pump. It currently doesn't function but local historians are in the process of trying to get water to flow from it again.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 15, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 7, 2016, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. This page has been viewed 203 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 7, 2016, by Douglass Halvorsen of Klamath Falls, Oregon. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
