Alumni of demolished historic Alderton School share memories, hopes for property
Maxine Herbert-Hill can still recall the warmth inside the Alderton School when she was a little girl.
Both the school and red brick gymnasium were usually fueled by coal during cold weather in Pierce County, Herbert-Hill told The News Tribune.
Herbert-Hill, her sister, Anitra Sudderth, and their friend, Carol Thompson, told The News Tribune Wednesday that both buildings had hardwood floors that were “beautiful” and “fancy.” The now-abandoned grounds off of state Route 162 were usually occupied by children trying to play hopscotch or rollerskate, they said.
Herbert-Hill, Sudderth and Thompson told The News Tribune they attended the elementary school in the 1950s as young girls.
“It was a great place to go to school,” Sudderth said, recalling how most of the classes would combine two grades in different parts of the building.
Now 111-years-old, the Alderton School was partially demolished on Monday. This was after Pierce County’s Planning & Public Works department issued a permit in March to demolish the school and adjacent gym, according to records on the county’s website. The buildings’ owner, Alderton Way LLC, submitted an application for the demolition in February.
The demolition abruptly stopped because a stop work order was issued. The county told The News Tribune because the structures are listed on the historic register, a historic preservation officer’s approval is needed to continue with the demolition.
“Pierce County Planning and Public Works has identified that a demolition permit was issued in error in March 2026 for two structures at 9512 Orting Hwy E. County staff did not identify that the structures were listed on the historic register before the permit was issued,” county spokesperson Maranatha Hay said in an emailed statement to The News Tribune Tuesday.
Both buildings have been listed on the Pierce County Register of Historic Places since 1986, the Washington Heritage Register since 1987, and the National Register of Historic Places since 1987, Hay said Tuesday.
“The project remains under a Stop Work Order until it goes before the County’s Landmark and Historic Preservation Commission. This item will appear on the Commission’s June meeting agenda, although a date has not yet been scheduled,” Hay told The News Tribune via email Wednesday.
While the school is more than halfway demolished, the gym is still standing.
Herbert-Hill believes it is past time for both structures to come down.
“It’s been so dilapidated for so long,” she said. “I’m glad it’s going under control and not just let fall down right when the next earthquake [happens].”
Herbert-Hill said the school’s roof had caved in, and a section of the gym roof had caved in. She added that people have been trespassing onto the property, and she worries that if someone gets injured then it could be considered the property owner’s fault.
“I’m glad it’s going. I have very mixed feelings about it, because it’s been a wonderful, wonderful place. It was a fabulous place to go to school, great teachers,” she said.
‘Wish my kids could have gone to school there’
The building was last used as an elementary school in 1958, The Courier-Herald reported.
Marie Cavelti Stewart told The News Tribune she recalls being in elementary school at Alderton and sitting under the big tree on the grounds, eating sandwiches.
“We also played hopscotch and marbles,” she told The News Tribune via Facebook Messenger.
Stewart, who now lives in Graham, recalled how big the gymnasium felt and the creaky sounds coming from the school’s stairs.
“It’s sad that it’s being torn down after all these years,” she said.
Herbert-Hill said everyone at the school knew each other.
“We had a lot of experiences and a great diversity of people, and we all liked, respected, and cared for one another,” she said.
Thompson, whose siblings also attended the school, wishes her own children could have gone there as well.
Jerry Oliver, 83, told The News Tribune in a phone call that he attended the school starting in 1948 during first grade.
“The first three years I was in the basement where the kitchen was,” he said. “The next three years I was upstairs.”
Oliver said the demolition of the school is disappointing on one hand, but on the other hand “it was a very old building.”
Herbert-Hill believes if the structures had been maintained, they could have been made into “something really wonderful.”
Alderton School alumni have previously gathered annually for reunions. Herbert-Hill said during one reunion in 2006, a man who was the buildings’ owner at the time was supposed to tell them his vision for the school, but he never showed up.
“So I did the best I could in sharing with everybody what he had told me, which was converting or restoring the school and having it be a dinner theater,” Herbert-Hill said.
The owner realized he could not have a commercial kitchen because the kitchen was not on a sewer system, she said, and he eventually sold the school to the current owners.
There are no other active pre-applications or permits on file under the parcel number for demolition indicating future development plans, according to Hay. The News Tribune has reached out to Alderton Way LLC for comment about the demolition and their plans for the property.
Herbert-Hill said she’d like to see a historical monument put on the Alderton School grounds, and possibly a park.
“But I don’t know if that’s possible or if that’s just some kind of a wild dream,” she said.
“I just really bemoan the fact that it never became a community center,” Sudderth said.
