The Mesa Ranch School was a ranch school in Mesa, Arizona, that was established in 1902 by H. David Evans, a Briton with a Cambridge education who arrived in Arizona in 1899.[1] It was designed to offer students from the eastern seaboard a western ranch lifestyle in a "dry and equable climate". Modeled as western equivalent of Phillips Academy, the Evans School was a college preparatory academy for 20 boys ages 15–18.[1][2]
Life at the school was described as "simple, even rough, the boys living each in his own cabin, keeping horses and making camping trips."[2] In the mountains near Flagstaff the school maintained a summer tutoring camp.[3]
The Mesa Campus was located 2+1⁄2 miles SE of downtown Mesa on El Rancho Bonito near the modern intersection of Stapley Dr and Southern Ave. In 1922 the school was renamed the Mesa Ranch School,[4] a name it retained until it was destroyed by fire in 1943.[5]
^ abLouis C. Hughes (1916): Arizona, prehistoric, aboriginal, pioneer, modern; the nation's youngest commonwealth within a land of ancient culture. p. 58. Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
^ abPorter Sergeant (1922) A Handbook of American Private Schools: An Annual Survey, 7th Edition. pp. 136–137. Cambridge, MA: The Cosmos Press.
^Porter E. Sergeant (1915) A Handbook Of The Best Private Schools Of The United States And Canada An Annual Publication, 1st Edition. p. 86. Boston: Porter Sergeant.
