Mesa Journal-Tribune September 23, 1932

Tortilla Flat, located on the Apache Trail between Mormon Flat and Fish Creek, has its first school building

Creation of a new district in Tortilla Flat was recently accomplished and carpenters last week finished construction on the building. School opened Monday morning with registration of 14 pupils. Mrs. Spence Dingle of Mesa is the instructor. The school served the children of Tortilla Flat, the Canyon Lake area, and Horse Mesa Dam. The actual schoolhouse survives where it was moved to Horse Mesa Dam after the flood of 1943. At Tortilla Flat, the replica school sits where it originally was located, at the end of town by the old hanging tree.

Yup, you probably wouldn’t believe it unless you read it, but we had a school district – OK, well a schoolhouse. Although moved in 1943, the replica schoolhouse is our museum – a tribute to the Heritage of Tortilla Flat. So much has gone on here that most folks didn’t believe it until they have seen it – so we preserved it! From floods to fires, to movies being filmed here (“Lust for Gold” in 1951), to books being written here (“Thunder God’s Gold” by Barry Storm), things were always going on. We even had a filling station and cabins here too. Many people have come and gone from Tortilla Flat with one thing in common, they all have left their mark on this place for eternity.

Pick up the book “Tortilla Flat Arizona Then and Now”, THE REAL STORY by L.L. Lombardi and Lois M. Potter-Sanders in the Mercantile/Gift Shop. It will intrigue and enlighten you with the full story of Tortilla Flat, AZ.