Car club donates to Reche Club

FALLBROOK — In 1875 the Fall Brook (yes, two words) School District was formed from the districts of San Luis Rey, Monserate and Mount Fairview (now Bonsall) that had been formed respectively in 1869, 1870 and 1872. The early classes were held in private homes near the Live Oak Creek center of the community and by 1870 a school was referred to in a San Diego newspaper, but the site is not known.

The first school on the present site, above South Live Oak Park Road and the nearby Reche Road intersection, was built in 1886. A devastating fire consumed the building and its contents in March of 1896. But on the same one acre that had been donated by Fall Brook’s first resident, Vital C. Reche, the new and current structure opened in November of the same year with 20 students attending. Through the years more acreage was added to the site for a playground and parking areas.

As West Fallbrook grew along Main Street, with the arrival of the railroad, the original Fall Brook area remained rural and sparsely populated. The name of the school was changed in 1933 to the Reche School District, and in 1939 Reche School District was annexed into the West Fallbrook Elementary School District. In 1946 “West” was deleted from the Fallbrook District name.

Fortunately for Fallbrook the Reche Community Club was started before the school closed. Dedicated members maintain the building and grounds and hold their board meetings and monthly potluck suppers there; also, the public is allowed some controlled use of the building for meetings and parties.

The school is an excellent example of those that were prevalent in pioneer communities throughout the country. It is a sound building with a library of books of its era and is a Fallbrook landmark frequented by schoolchildren and other tour groups. The nonprofit club supports itself through memberships and donations, the popular Chicken Pot Pie Supper each fall and other fundraisers in the spring and summer.

Membership is open to those interested in saving this historic site. For information or to request an appointment to visit the school, call President Doris Ham at (760) 728-9790 or Treasurer (and lone 1939 graduate of Reche School) Margaret Ray at (760) 728-1654.