Memories of Lindbergh Elementary School

I became a student at Costa Mesa’s Lindbergh Elementary School in January 1953.

A third-grader, my parents had purchased a new tract home the previous month on Fairway Drive on the city’s Eastside. My dad, a World War II vet, qualified for the GI Bill.

All homes on our side of the street (the east side) were completed when we moved in. The homes on the west side were still concrete slabs, or wooden frames. We played in the unfinished structures and liberated nails and 2x4s to build a fort.

Costa Mesa incorporated later that year.

We moved from my grandparents’ home on Balboa Island, where I’d lived for my first eight years. I loved the island.

I begged my parents not to move, but to no avail. They were eager to have their own place. My folks ended up staying in that home for 56 years.

Soon, I began to appreciate wild and woolly Costa Mesa.

There were vast open spaces all over town; groves of eucalyptus trees were good for climbing and spying; wooden barracks west of Newport Boulevard were remnants of Santa Ana Army Air Base and were filled with discarded military treasures; rutted and poorly paved streets were the norm; no sidewalks were to be seen anywhere; water-filled ditches were alive with crawdads and lined virtually every thoroughfare of the city; the inviting greens of the unfenced Santa Ana Country Club were rich with free golf balls; discarded World War II bombers were parked at the end of the Orange County Airport runway and were attractive nuisances for young stowaways; a mini-Grand Canyon (Upper Newport Bay) sat in our midst; and, vast horizons could be explored on the empty heights east of the bay.

It was heaven. A perfect place for an 8-year-old!

But, first things first. I had to get used to my new school. I’d attended modern Corona del Mar Elementary School in Corona del Mar since kindergarten. I was spoiled.

Old and rickety, Lindbergh Elementary -– located at the corner of 23rd Street and Orange Avenue -– took some getting used to.

Named for aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, the school opened in 1931.

The school’s large main building was oriented toward 23rd Street. I remember it as a massive brick structure with two wings and a copula. My third-grade classroom was located in the building. The hallways echoed with shouts and laughter.

The building was deemed unsafe and demolished in 1963.

My fourth-grade Lindbergh class was located in one of two bungalows that were Santa Ana Army Air Base relics. My fifth- and sixth-grade classes were in two new classroom wings perpendicular to Orange Avenue.

I was in Mrs. Long’s third-grade class; Mrs. Coxen’s fourth-grade class; Mrs. Ballreich’s fifth-grade class; and Mr. Gilbert’s sixth-grade class. As I recall, Mr. Bruns –- a tall and somewhat intimidating fellow — was principal. I was summoned to his office more than once.

In the fifth grade, I remember playing on the playground one spring day and seeing a private airplane crash on what appeared to be the far northeastern corner of the campus.

We all ran to that spot, only to discover that the actual crash site was several hundred yards beyond the perimeter. Our teachers shepherded us back to our classrooms.

My buddy, Bill, and I would stage mock Korean War battles during recess on the weed-strewn field beyond the blacktop. I scored four points in the fifth- vs. sixth-grade basketball game. We fifth-graders won, and had a party.

I graduated from Lindbergh in 1956 and transferred to Everett A. Rea Junior High. I was a member of Costa Mesa High’s first graduating class in 1962.

I remember that we patriotically repeated the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at Lindbergh, had a lavish public Christmas program each December and were proud residents of our community.

Lindbergh School closed in 1982. Today it serves as Lindbergh Child Development Center and Lindbergh Park.

Corona del Mar Elementary was bulldozed decades ago.

JIM CARNETT lives in Costa Mesa. His column runs Wednesdays.