In 1914, the Morrison family arrived in the community of Lancaster. Wayne's father, Clyde Morrison, had taken up farming and maintained the family’s homestead (located near the present-day UPS facility on Avenue M). By the time the family settled in Lancaster, electricity and paved streets had been introduced to the valley, along with a new grammar school and public library.
Wayne was enrolled in second grade at Lancaster Grammar School, on Cedar Avenue, in September 1914. As a young schoolboy, Wayne was known for not tying up his horse properly when he left it by the road, as was the old tradition. When he wasn’t in school, John worked from dawn to dusk, with his parents and younger brother on their farm.
Though the family tried farming and ranching for several years, after the death of Wayne’s grandfather, the family decided to leave their first home in California and moved from Lancaster to Glendale in 1916
Gurba, Norma H. Lancaster. Arcadia, 2005.
Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections