Below are excerpts from an extensive chronology of Beaverton High School by Lisa Sandmire, derived from past issues of the Beaverton High newspaper, The Hummer, and other historical sources.

Click here for a detailed chronology of events and happenings at Beaverton High School excerpted from historical issues of the BHS Hummer.

BHS 1874 building, circa 1900s (front)

1842: First school in Washington County opens. It was an Indian mission and open to all.

1916: Beaverton High becomes a standard, 4-year high school.

1917: The US entered WWI, declaring war on Germany.

BHS 1874 building, circa 1900s (rear)

1918: The 1918 flu pandemic infected 500 million people worldwide, killing 50-100 million (3-5% of the world’s population.

1921: First Hummer published, “Beaverton Hummer Special”. First cafeteria established. Food is made by the Home Economics class. First football team. (Hummer, 5/1923)

BHS 1910 building, before 1923 addition

1941: Evacuee Adopted by French Class. (Hummer 4/23/1941) Japan declared war on the United States by attacking the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor. Six U.S. ships were sunk, 2,402 Americans lost their lives and 1,247 were wounded. Blackouts in Beaverton. Evening activities moved to earlier times in order to observe blackout air raid evacuation drills. (Hummer, 12/17/1941)

BHS 1910 building, after 1923 addition (now a grade school)

1944: Enrollment: 431 (134 freshmen, 133 sophomores, 100 juniors, 64 seniors). (Hummer 9/27/1944). War bond sales: goal of selling 35K by 12/7 to buy a landing barge. Serviceman will be admitted free to sporting events during school year.

BHS 1915 building, under construction

1945: Prom Tips: clean hair, Either pile neatly on top of head or put a velvet bow in to hold it back. Maybe a sequin beany. Only wear a small corsage as a large one isn’t appropriate during the war. Let the boy open doors for you. Tell your date he looks nice, too. Boys, help her with her wrap. Help her into the car. Dance the first two dances with her and at least every third dance.

FDR death, flag flown at half-mast. 15 BHS student soldiers have died in action so far in WWII. Within two weeks, BHS lost its student body president and vice-president, senior class president and vice-president, pep club president, Hummer editor and annual editor. (4/18/45 Hummer) May 1945 – VE day honored with special assembly.

BHS 1915 building

1949: April 13, 1949, 11:56a, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake centered in Olympia, WA is felt all over the PNW. Building suffers some cracks in the brick facade and on the ceiling in one classroom. BHS closed school for the day “not because of danger but because the quake left them little concern for their studies,” according to IR Metzler.

BHS 1915 building with 1929 addition

1950: 3rd floor condemned. It is commonly thought that the instability of the third floor, causing its condemnation, was due to the 1949 earthquake, but the instability was actually caused by the removal of a support wall between two classrooms on the second floor sometime during the ‘30s or ‘40s which caused the floor to sag and shake. The engineers also proclaimed the floor joists to be inadequate and the concrete to be of poor quality. The removal happened during the summer of 1951. William Logan, future principal, first hired as teacher and JV coach. Enrollment is 898. (Hummer 9/25/1951)

BHS 1915 building with 1929 addition (rear view circa 1940s)

1955: Article about Dorothy Johnson, Miss Oregon, runner-up to Miss America, resident of Garden Home. (Hummer 2/4/1955) Atomic bomb drill at school. Hoop skirts popular. (Hummer 5/27/1955)

1958: Class of 1958 has 339 students. 204 attend college, 23 attend vocational schools, 80 are employed, 24 join the military.

BHS 1915 building circa 1949

1960: District 48 becomes Unified Beaverton School District. Fashion fads: Girls wear kulots (bermuda length skirts made like culottes), bold colors, big plaids, pointed shoes. Boys wear wool shirts (Pendleton), khaki pants, big sweaters, corduroy suits, bright vests, continental trousers, low-cut tennis shoes, white sweat socks, green, green, green!

BHS 1951 building (removed 3rd floor after earthquake)

1962: Mass polio immunization at Beaverton High. (Hummer 3/9/1962) Bond measure passes to build 2 junior high schools. (Hummer 3/30/62)

1968: Hummers no longer retained and chronology ceases. (Please donate any you might have.)