Saint Matthew's Episcopal Day School - History

History

On April 24, 1864, Giles Alexander Easton established an Episcopal church named for Saint Matthew on the historic mission trail known as El Camino Real. Services were held in a school until ground could be broken for a building. Two acres of land were donated by Agnes Poett Howard, widow of William Davis Merry Howard, and their son, William Henry Howard. In 1865 a stone church with capacity of about 200 people was built and a two-story school building known as Saint Mathew's Hall for the school. The nave was 48 feet (15 m) by 36 feet (11 m), and the chancel was 12 feet (3.7 m) by 24 feet (7.3 m). The street between the church and school was known as Saint Matthews Avenue. Alfred Lee Brewer (1831–1899) operated the school in English "public school" tradition with strict military discipline. In 1882 the school was moved to an 80-acre (320,000 m2) site, with about 120 boys enrolled. The school campus became part of the city of Burlingame, California.

Three Princes of the Kingdom of Hawaii, brothers Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole (1871–1922), David Kawānanakoa (1868–1908) and Edward Keliʻiahonui (1869–1887) attended the school in the 1880s. It advertised itself as "the leading private educational institution for boys on the Pacific Coast" in 1889. It was later taken over by his son William Augustus Brewer (1863–1931). William Brewer became mayor of the new town of Hillsborough, California. By 1902 the school was called "the best known private educational institution upon the west coast."

Neptune Blood William Gallway became rector of the church in 1904. The buildings were damaged in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The old church was replaced by a new one designed by Willis Polk, with many furnishings salvaged from the original building. The new building was consecrated on May 15, 1910. The school was shut down in 1915 when a road was constructed through the campus. A new organ was donated in memory of William H. Crocker in 1938.

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