Colton High School opened in 1895. It is one of the oldest high schools in the Inland Empire. In this daily feature, we celebrate Colton High’s rich history.

On October 12, 1909, President William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States, drove past Colton Union High School in his caravan of gasoline powered Pierce-Arrow cars.

There seemed to be an expectation from the people gathered outside  the school on I Street that Taft would stop and speak, but that was not the case.

The President drove right by the school.

The “Colton Chronicle” notes the event: “Turning up I Street the party soon reached the high school grounds where half a hundred school children and a great crowd of people were amassed to hear and see the President. There was . . . a gasp of astonishment as they went right by.”