McSwain Elementary School

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Because many of the families who settled in the McSwain area during the late 1800's were of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry, the area was called British Colony. One of the main roads was named for one of these families, McSwain Road.

When the first school was established, facing this road, it was called McSwain School. Through the years, the school was relocated several times and at least twice the building was destroyed by fire.

From the early 1900's until 1944, the school was located on McSwain Road (Highway 140) at the present location of the Grange Hall. It had grown from a two-room building to three, with a large all purpose auditorium.

In 1944 this building was destroyed by fire. Because of building material shortages due to World War II, it was impossible to rebuild. So a three-room building was purchased from the Merced Falls School District and moved to the McSwain site by fording the building across the Merced River on large planks placed on the river bed. This building is the present Grange Hall.

Plans to build a larger school building as soon as possible were formulated and adjacent districts were consulted about forming a union district and providing bus transportation.

Two districts joined with McSwain, Lone Tree, whose building was located on the Favier property near Sandy Mush Road, and El Capitan District, whose building was located near the Roduner property and near Gurr and Dickensen Ferry Roads.

Both of these buildings were moved to the McSwain location and used. The El Capitan building is still at that location, where it was used as a private residence. It is currently vacant.

The following year two more districts, Buhach and Applegate, joined with the three districts. The Buhach School building is still in the same location on Buhach Road and is currently the main building of the Discovery Learning Center. The Applegate School building, on Applegate Road near Highway 140, has been torn down.

For several years, McSwain Union Elementary School District had two campuses with two grades at Buhach School and six at the McSwain Road location.

In 1950 the Roedel family gave ten acres of their property as a gift to the school district for the purpose of building a large modern school. This is the location of the present McSwain School at the corner of McSwain Road (Highway 140) and Scott Road. It is one of the largest districts in area in Merced County. With a large campus, it is the center of community events and meetings.

Over time the district has grown and enrollment is presently over 800 students. The original campus has expanded through with the addition of a classroom wing, 22 portables and extension to the cafeteria and most recently a new Gymnasium/Performing Arts Building completed in 2001. The instructional staff currently numbers 46 faculty members and 34 support staff.