It looks timeless, but it isn't the original. According to Roger Vargo, who once was a pupil at Elysian Heights Elementary school (at Echo Park Ave. and Baxter), the pretty schoolhouse we see today was built after the old one burned down.

Roger emailed me:

On the subject of Elysian Heights School, the building that is there today is NOT the original building. ... As a kid I remember being told that the old building burned down and that's why we didn't have a cafeteria--'cause it burned, too. ... We had to bring our lunches, except for one day a week (Wednesdays, I think), which was hot dog day courtesy of the PTA. The milk truck did bring milk every day, though. Anyway, I was told the "old" EHS once was a two story building with a cafeteria. ... While the school was rebuilt, the cafeteria was not (possibly to be added at a later date).

And before the dairy farm, I've heard occupied that area? Fields? Oil? Tent parties? Chapparral? Unimaginable.