Napa Schools History of Memorial Stadium, Silverado Middle School, Ridgeview Jr. High School

Napa Memorial Stadium History:   

By Jeff Johnson 

  Napa Memorial Stadium was transformed into its current configuration from 1949 to 1957.The current Quonset hut buildings were purchased at  little cost from WWII surplus stock at Mare Island Naval Shipyard and transported to Napa via Southern Pacific Railroad (currently Wine Train Tracks) next to NVUSD buss yard .My father, Kenneth O. Johnson, former Vice Principal of Napa High School and later assistant superintendent for Dr. Harry McPherson, was responsible for securing this deal with Mare Island. He was assisted by colleagues Herb Salinger, George Hildebrand, Ron English, Ken Cassenega, and Bob Martin(Redwood Middle School Cafeteria is named for him).Several of these staff members had numerous connections to the US Navy so it became feasible to allocate these supplies from them. Along with the huts came the original light standards.

     The huts were offloaded in four separate pieces from the flatbed railroad cars by slipping them on steel rails from the cars and then to the present location by laying the huts onto the piers which had been laid with large blocks of ice from Napa Ice Company. The huts were situated on the ice blocks, and as the ice melted the huts settled on the piers allowing workers to position them so there was a more even placement and securely fastened. Over the years, cement was poured inside the huts allowing showers tand locker rooms to be built inside with plumbing se underneath due to the clearance supplied by the raised piers. The huts were restructured and the showers floors replaced (1988), with volunteer community workers. Many local contractors contributed supplies for this effort including Osborne Electric (my brother in-law Jeffrey Osborne’s company (Osborne Electric (his company’s name is located on the stone and bronze plaque in the north end zone) and later also contributed free labor and supplies to help reconstruct the lights after the blackout at the stadium during a Napa High football game (1990).

      During the early 1950’s, there were plans to build a Masonic Lodge on the west side of Highway 29(currently where the Premium Outlet Shops are located and previously Allen and Benedict furniture store, Owl Rexall Drugs and Purity Grocery Store of the middle 1950’s-1960’s).The original support beams ands early prefab walls (constructed by Basalt Cement Company in East Napa) were placed on the west side of the highway awaiting building to begin. When the building contractors reached impasse on the Masonic Building plans, the idea was placed on hold and never built. The beams and wall structures were still there when Dr. McPherson, Ken Johnson, George Hildebrand and Ken Cassenega found them and came up with the idea of setting them up as grandstands at the current stadium with a steel structure to hold them designed and constructed by Kaiser Steel. As the years have gone by, this fine stadium(one of the top 10 high school stadiums to watch a high school football games(as selected by Cal Hi Sports) has undergone several transformations(including rebuilding of the huts, new lights(see above reference) and improvements. These include redesigning of the field (which was raised several feet from its previous level due to flooding during the 1980’s and a new drainage system was built. A new turf field has been installed since then and is still today overseen by   Joe Rodriquez.

 Some of the original views of the field before construction of huts, lights, grandstands, can be seen in the history room upstairs at the current(Old Napa High School) NVUSD Administration Offices. These photos were donated with Napa High School Lancer and Napa Indians yearbooks of the 1950’s (courtesy of the Johnson Family (Marie (Ken Johnson’s widow, sons …Greg, and Jeff).

Silverado (Middle) Junior High School History

By Jeff Johnson

    In the springtime of 1956, the Superintendent of Schools for the Napa Union School District was Dr. Harry McPherson.  Napa Unified School District began in 1964 and up until that time the Napa community was comprised of several elementary union school districts, two junior high school districts and one high school.  Dr. Harry McPherson, directed his assistant superintendent, Kenneth O. Johnson, formerly first principal of Ridgeview Junior High School, now Harvest Middle School, to begin planning for a new junior high school in the eastern foothills of Napa Valley. The land that was designated for this survey plan was in the unincorporated Coombsville farm and ranch land of the original historic Tulocay Rancho. Currently the land was being used as a cattle ranch and dairy farm owned at the time by Lewis Dairy.

     Mr. Lewis had contacted the school officials inquiring if they were interested in the land and that he was willing to donate portions of the land for future school use. Ken Johnson was assigned the task of negotiating the sale of the land. Mr. Lewis was interested in a simple donation of the land but was persuaded to sell the land for a reasonable amount in mutual consideration that portions of the land would still be used by the dairy for grazing purposes.

   Mr. Johnson, aided in these negations by Herb Salinger, Chester Cooley, and George Hildebrandt, came to a negotiated price and reported these developments to Dr. McPherson. The Napa Union School District board of trustees decided to build the new junior high school for the Napa community.  The other two were Napa Junior High School which was to become Napa College and was located next to Napa High School, and the current Ridgeview campus on Old Sonoma Road.  The new school was to be named Silverado Junior High School.  The name Silverado had many original sources including Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Silverado Squatters, a story about his temporary stay in northern Napa Valley at the site of a mine on Mount St. Helena, and Silverado Trail, the route through Napa Valley leading to the quicksilver mines in northern Napa County. The mascot name for Silverado, The Dons, would also become historic in origin with respect to the owners of ranchos in the area who were called Dons.

    Water was always in question in the Coombsville area and therefore new wells were required for sufficient water supplies for the new school site. Many other design reviews for this school site would be forthcoming in the planning process before groundbreaking took place.

Ridgeview Junior High School 1954 to 1981:

By Jeff Johnson

      One of the original junior high schools in the Napa Valley Unified School District began as the second junior high school   In the then called Napa Union School District. Unification of schools in Napa California (Yountville to American Canyon took place in  1964.) The only junior high school at that time(1935-1953)was located on Jefferson Street across the lawn from Napa Union High School and was called simply Napa Junior High School

    With increasing population, the board of education decided to construct a new junior high school on the southwest side of town. This was due to increasing enrollment and new housing subdivisions on that part of town.

    The new junior high school was originally named Mayacamus Junior High School as it was located within  sight of the Mayacamus Mountains on the west side of the Napa Valley. This school was situated very close to the Sonoma Notch(two lane road to Sonoma connecting with Highway 121)in the Carneros area).

     Construction began in early 1953 and because of building costs at the time, as many local products and workers were utilized. Stone bricks fashioned at Basalt Rock and Stone Company on the Napa n/Vallejo Highway(next to Napa State Hospital and across the highway of the future Napa Junior College, now named Napa Valley College).

     While the construction was underway, Napa Union School District Board of Trustees and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Harry McPherson) , began selecting  teachers for positions at the new school. Some teachers were already teaching in Napa at elementary schools , Napa Junior High and Napa High

School and were  not particularly  happy to go to a new school .These teachers were given certain options to relocate to the new junior high school while others were simply transferred. Many teachers that were transferred were subsequently not very happy with the notion of teaching in a new location and rebelled at their new transfers.

     A new principal was named for the new school. Kenneth Johnson was the assistant principal of Napa Union High School and was promoted to the new position .When Mr. Johnson sat down with and met with the new staff, many of the teachers strongly suggested that they have some buy in to the structuring of the new school One of these ideas was to choose  a different name for the school. The overall consensus name selection was to be Ridgeview due to its location near the ,mountains.

    Following the renaming, discussion centered  on  the choice of a mascot. Because of the aforementioned feelings of many of the teachers with rebellious attitudes, The Rebels mascot was selected., along with the school colors, scarlet and gray. A flag for the school was designed, a replica of the Confederate States of America Stars and Bars.

     On the first day of the new school year, September 5, 1954, construction had fallen behind schedule, bells were not functioning, the parking lot was not paved, all classrooms did not have electricity, the walls of the school were not painted(and remained thereafter  gray in color of the original color)and on that first day of school it rained.

  For opening ceremonies in front of school, several volunteer history reenactors showed up in  Confederate uniforms and raised the Confederate Flag, fired a salute with antique rifles and even played Dixie. Following this ceremony, all students( in those days, grades included 7,8,&9) assembled in the gymnasium for opening speeches by the superintendent, Mayor of Napa, board of trustees and the new principal. When Mr. Johnson began to speak ,one of his young sons sitting in the first row, got sick on the new gym floor(me).School classes did begin on time that day.

       As the years passed, Ridgeview  eventually became a two year (7&8) junior high school, along with two  new junior high schools, Silverado on the east side of town(Coombsville area)and  Redwood Junior High School on the north end of town., In  1981 due to declining enrollment in  the now  Napa Valley Unified School District ,Ridgeview Junior High School was selected to be one of the schools closed due to the new configuration of what is now called middle schools. The remaining schools consolidated students  into Silverado and Redwood.

    That June day in 1981 when Ridgeview closed its doors, Mr. Johnson was there once again, along with the Confederate reenactment soldiers, the flag and the band, along with his new daughter in law, Teri Johnson, a  teacher at Ridgeview( a Johnson opened the school and a Johnson closed it). All the teachers wore red and white and gray shirts spelling out their names on the shirts and proclaiming in large red letters, The Last of the Rebels.

     Today, Ridgeview g[has reopened as a middle school with grades 6,7,8 and has been renamed Harvest Middle School, ans is currently undergoing more renovation with a new gymnasium, and all weather recreation fields and track.