Augustus C. Brichta was such a strong advocate of education that he worked two months without pay as the area's first school sputtered and then closed.
But his educational legacy lives on in the Augustus Brichta Elementary School, 2110 W. Brichta Drive, and the street named in his honor off North Silverbell Road and West Speedway.
Brichta was born in New York City on Sept. 2, 1821, to Francis and Amelia (Rudolphus) Brichta, who were from Germany. He was one of four children and was educated at the Jesuit College in Havana, Cuba, and at St. Louis University.
After finishing school he went to work with his father in Nacogdoches County, Texas. When the Mexican-American War began, he enlisted and served in the Second Mounted Volunteers under Gen. Zachary Taylor. In 1846 and 1847 he was on the front lines and fought in the Battle of Monterrey. Many years later, he was a member of the Society of Mexican Veterans, which he had joined in San Francisco.
People are also reading…
In 1849, Brichta traveled to California during the Gold Rush, mining for the precious metal on the American, Feather, and Yuba rivers, but found slim pickings. He arrived in Arizona around 1864, and worked as a clerk for the First Arizona Territorial Legislature.
His next stop was Tucson, where he taught in the first English-speaking school. Held in an adobe building downtown, in 1868 it had about 55 students, all boys. It had dirt floors, and the only furniture was pine benches and desks.
Due to lack of funding by the town, the school closed less than six months after opening, and Brichta taught the last two months without pay.
After that, Brichta worked for the firm Lord & Williams and did a stint as deputy postmaster. He was Pima County Recorder for one term and also the first Justice of the Peace of Nogales.
Mining was his major endeavor throughout his life, and he worked three copper claims in the Tucson Mountains.
In 1872 Brichta wed Maria Jesusita Franco of Santa Cruz, Mexico, and adopted her three children. He died Dec. 21, 1910.
Sources:
Special thanks to the Friends of the Pima County Public Library.
Interview with Lorraine Aguilar (great-granddaughter of Augustus Brichta).
Unknown Author, "Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona," Chapman Publishing Co., 1901.
Betty Blackburn, "New School Honors City's First Teacher," Arizona Daily Star, Aug. 8, 1960.
Albert R. Buehman, "Arizona Album," Tucson Citizen, Jan. 16, 1953.
Nominate a street
Each week the Star tells the stories behind Tucson street names. If you have streets to suggest or stories to share, contact writer David Leighton at streetsmarts@azstarnet.com.
