Old Central High School

In August my husband's sister, who lives in California, and his cousin from Arizona will both be traveling to Duluth to attend their 50th Class Reunion from Duluth Central High School. They attended Central at what we now call "Old Central", it was and still is a beautiful building. I'm so thankful that when they closed it to open a "New Central" in 1971, that the building did not get torn down. This is an excerpt taken from the Central High School web site, about the orginal Central, written by Jason N. Shaw:

"For one hundred years Central High School has been a symbol of pride for both the citizens of Duluth and the students who attended the school.

Built in 1892 according to the plans of the architects Palmer and Hall, Duluth Central was considered "The Finest High School in the World." Built because of inadequate space in the old Washington Building, Central was famed not only for its grand clock tower, which could be seen for miles, but also for its wide halls, sweeping stairways with iron banisters, large chandeliers, and beautiful statuary. Most of these objects were removed in the 1920’s to make room for more students and further modernization. In 1923 classrooms replaced the central stairwell; in 1925 a cafeteria was added; in 1926 a north wing was added with greater gymnasium facilities; and finally, 1927 saw the building of East Junior High to take the pressure off of the other two schools. In 1939 the wood floors were replaced by concrete ones and built-in lockers were added. The first graduating class of 1894 numbered only thirty-two students. It was this class that put out the first yearbook and called it the "Tiger." The next year the name was changed to the "Zenith" and it has remained so to this day. The first school paper was called the "Junior Record" and was published by the juniors in 1894. It was the forerunner of the "Spectator" which came out in 1922-23.

Central High School remained pretty quiet for the next fifty, or so, years – until 1970. It was then that due to age and safety conditions the Duluth School Board decided it would have to build a new school to replace Central. They brought forth two bond issues, the second one was accepted and building was begun. In 1971 Duluth had a new school on top of the hill." (See my next post for a photo of it).

Old Central still sits in the heart of downtown Duluth. It is now used by the School District for their Administration offices. I understand there is an "Alumni Room" that can be visited by former students. The bell tower is still there also.