A HISTORY OF SUNSET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 1896-1996

(Written by Odalis Rodriguez, Revised by Jean Ketchum)

      Once, more than a hundred years ago, there wasn’t a school here. There were no roads, no houses, just woods. Many deer, panthers, wildcats, and raccoons roamed in these woods too. There were narrow trails through the woods that Indians used to get down to the Bay waters to fish.

     Finally, pioneer families began to come to this area, either by boat or by wagons pulled by horses or mules. In 1896 one pioneer family by the name of Richards settled here. Since they had children and there was no school, they built a little wooden one-room schoolhouse a couple of blocks from here, on Erwin Road and Sunset Drive. The schoolhouse was named “Cocoplum.”  Years later that schoolhouse burned down and a second one was built next to where our cafeteria is now. Later it was moved to the P.E. field. If you look out there you can see that second little schoolhouse. It’s not safe to go inside it now, so it’s boarded up. But some good citizens are going to try to fix it just the way it used to look.

     Around that same time, another family named Larkins settled in this area. Mr. Larkins started a dairy farm here, as well as a general store, near the little school. There were no telephones then, but Mr. Larkins built a telephone line. He also started a post office. And so, around 1904, other settlers called this small settlement and the schoolhouse “Larkins.” What is now Sunset Drive used to be called Larkins Road.

     The railroad from Miami to Key West was built around this time. More families came and built houses here. The houses were very small, usually built with pine logs. Palmetto fronds were used for walls and roofs. A separate shed was built for cooking. Wooden boxes were used for babies to be kept safe from the snakes. Water had to be hauled from nearby springs.

     A typical diet for these families would include venison, livers and home-cured bacon, coontie (an important plant in those days used for making starch), bread, corn bread, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, compty pudding and guava jelly. They planted tobacco, bananas, and many varieties of fruit trees. Seafood was also an important part of their diet. Catching and netting the plentiful fish in the Bay was important to these pioneer families for food, as well as for sale. It was sometimes dangerous, for along the beaches the waters were filled with sand crabs, sharks, alligators, and snakes.

     On Sundays the families sometimes would go in their boats to get to the area where Matheson hammock is now. They would fish and swim, build a fire and fry their catches, and bake potatoes in the ashes. This was a happy recreation time for these families, for there wasn’t much else to do for fun. Families had to work hard just to survive.

     Another popular beach back then was Cocoplum with its nice white sand and no undertow so that it was safe for swimming. At low tide one could wade out halfway to Cape Florida.

     Usually these families would arise before dawn to start their chores. Many days the older children had to stay home from school to help tend the cows, pigs, or work in the gardens and fields.

     The Indians had a camp in Kendall. They were peaceful and friendly Seminoles and would often come to the stores to trade venison steaks for goods.

     Soon the little schoolhouse was too small and a new wooden two-room school was built with more land around it. These two buildings are still on our school grounds, and are used for classrooms. It was called the “Teacherage” because at times the teachers lived there too.

     In 1918 the first concrete building was built with three classrooms downstairs and one classroom and an auditorium (complete with a ticket booth) upstairs. Students went from first grade to high school here. Along with the three “R’s” (reading, writing & ‘rithmetic), girls learned to cook and sew. Boys tended gardens and sometimes raised pigs. (At night these students did homework by the light of kerosene lamps.)

     Most children went barefoot then. They brought their lunches from home in tin pails and ate outside under the pine trees. After lunch they would play games, jump rope, and run races. Hoops were nailed to the trees and the older boys would play basketball. When it was time to go back to classes, the principal would come out and ring a handbell. Sometimes if it turned cold, the school would have to close, for there was no way to heat the building.

     As the population grew, many buildings were added at different times. The first small cafeteria and porch were built onto the Teacherage building in 1927. Students ate their lunches at tables on the screened-in porch.  Lunches cost ten cents!  Students were well-behaved, as each teacher was provided a wooden paddle, and she was expected to use it when needed. Sometimes the older boys would try to leave school around lunchtime to take a swim in the canal, but the principal would always catch them sooner or later!

     Around this time, the school’s name was changed to “South Miami Elementary.”  If you look closely at the building across from the office, you can see the words “South Miami” along the front.

     That same year electricity was installed. There were only two radio stations in all of South Florida then. Not long after that, a Victor picture machine was purchased for the school. It showed silent, black and white movies and had to be cranked by hand.

     Roads, stores, churches, and the Riviera movie theatre were built. There was a bad hurricane in 1926 and the parents and students were busy helping those families left homeless. They cleaned up and raised money by holding food sales on Main Street, and theatre parties at the Riviera theatre.

     After World War II there were many wooden portable buildings on the field and in the courtyard. The school was very crowded.

     In 1952 the school’s name was changed to” Sunset.”  That year the students gathered in the school cafeteria to watch President Eisenhower’s inauguration on the school’s first black and white television set.

     Many buildings and fine programs have been added to our school since that time. Air conditioning, TV’s, computers, multi-media encyclopedias, CD Rom disks, and a closed circuit television system all are now enriching today’s curriculum. Wouldn’t a child from that one-room schoolhouse wonder at these sights?