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The Hood River News, Hood River, OR., October 6, 1933, page 7

EARLY SCHOOL DAYS RECALLED BY RELIC
Arbor Day, 1895, Was Celebrated By Raising Of Flag On What Is Now Courthouse Lawn

A relic of early school days in Hood River, in the form of an Arbor Day program, recently was presented by Mrs. Alma Howe to city recorder Howe.
The program, which was given on April 12, 1895, took place on the lawn of Hood River's first school-house, better known to latter-day residents as the courthouse. Arbor Day was defined as follows: "Its mission, not to plant trees and flowers, as Dame Nature has supplied us with these in abundance, but with the aid of the patriotic citizens of Hood River, to plant a new flag on our new schoolhouse. The within program is dedicated to the flag fund. "The program was arranged by the teachers: H.L. Howe, principal; Grace Graham and Della Watson, and the accompanying certificate was issued to Hester Howe, who owned one and one-half shares in the new flag.
Some of the names mentioned as taking part in the program are: Agnes Dukes, William Ellison, Maua McCray, Vera Jackson, Lillie Shute, Leola Wells, Roy Slocum, Theresa Morse, Mollie Dukes, May Lymon, Walter Hall, Grace Prather, Hulda Rankin, Bert Rand, Matthew Sloper, Dale Harrison, Percy Adams, Edward Heald, Charles Morse, Henry Brown, and W.P. Wilson.
In 1895, according to Mr. Howe, there were more than 150 pupils in Hood River's first school, an average of more than 50 to each of the three teachers, and it was not long before the demand for education forced school directors to secure an additional one-room building. Eventually this failed to meet requirements and further expansion took place. Today, Hood River has one of the most complete school systems for a city of its size in the entire Northwest.