In 1910, Visalia High School was constructed in the style of Mission Revival architecture. The name of the school was eventually changed to Visalia Union High School. In 1952, this school served as a junior high school for two years when a new high school, Mt. Whitney, was opened a few blocks to the south. Two years after Mt. Whitney opened, the old Visalia Union High School campus was renamed Redwood High School. Mt. Whitney High School retained the original school colors and mascot of Visalia Union High School, i.e. maroon & white, The Pioneer. On October 29, 1965, the Spanish mission style administration building burned and was considered a total loss, although classes were held in portions of the building throughout the year. Indeed, many students took a short-cut through dangerous, burned out portions of the building for the rest of the 1965 school year. The original academic building survives to this day, although alterations to the windows and corridors were necessary. The administration wing was later rebuilt along with a larger library. The original "Senior Court" was moved, from where the present library and memory lane are now located, to the quad area. Redwood High School celebrated its 50th Birthday in the 2004-2005 school year. In that same year, the 50th Cowhide game against its cross town rival, Mount Whitney High School, was celebrated at the Mineral King Bowl and televised throughout the California Central Valley.
Campus
Redwood has two separate campuses separated by Giddings Street, however it is connected by a bridge that was built in 1996. The Main Campus is bounded by Main Street on the north, Conyer Street on the east, Mineral King Avenue on the south, and Giddings Street on the west. The Sierra Vista Campus is bounded by Mill Creek on the north, Giddings Street on the east, Mineral King Street on the south, and Dollner Street on the west.
Main Campus
Main Campus houses most of the school's classrooms and facilities, such as the main office, library, swimming pool, and gym.
Sierra Vista
Sierra Vista is mostly made up of math and foreign languages classes. It also includes visual and performing arts, and architecture classes. The Sierra Vista campus is made up of a few portable classrooms, a main building, a theatre, and a baseball diamond. Sierra Vista's main building was originally an elementary School built during The Great Depression and commissioned as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal". The elementary school was later absorbed by Redwood High School and given its current name. The Rotary Theater is directly connected to the sierra vista building and is the home for the Green Acres Little Theater musicals.
Annie R. Mitchell Library & Media Center
The Library was named in honor of Annie Rosalind Mitchell in 1989. Annie Mitchell was Dean of Girls at Visalia Union High School. Today, the Annie R. Mitchell library houses over 25,000 books for the over 2,100 students that use the facility. The library is decorated with 35 flags from around the world, photographs of students dating back to 1900, and a preserved Golden Eagle. The school career center is located on the second level of the library.
L.J. Williams Theater
The L.J. Williams Theater was constructed in the 1930s, and has hosted many artistic events, including concerts and plays. It was named for Mr. Lawrence J. Williams, former instructor and principal of Visalia Union High School and the first President of College of the Sequoias.
Mill Creek
is a creek that runs through the city of Visalia, including both of Redwood's campuses. Starting at the southeast part of the main campus, the creek runs underground until halfway, then it runs along the south campus, dividing the main campus from the Mineral King Bowl, continuing under Giddings Street and finally along the northern edge of the Sierra Vista campus and into Green Acres.
Student body
The school's ethnic composition is 30% Hispanic, 40% White, 15% Asian, 10% African-American, 0% Filipino, and 5% "other".
