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| The old Central High School (postcard decorated with glitter) on Sassafras Street between 10th and 11th St. |
City of Erie Public School Buildings
by Debbi Lyon
Ever drive by one of the old schools in the City of Erie, Pennsylvania and wonder when it was built? You've come to the right place.We'll start with the old Central High School (pictured above), which was located on Sassafras Street between 10th and 11th Street, to the west of St. Peter's grade school. Central was built in 1890 and then enlarged in 1896. The architect on the 1890 job was D. K. Dean & Son; the contractor was Henry Shenk. The architect on the 1896 addition was Joseph Frank and the Kirschner Brothers were the contractors. The school had 32 rooms and 1,136 seats, not counting 1,000 opera chairs in the auditorium. The lot size was 330 x 206 feet. Demolished.
School No. 1 Lafayette. Located on northwest corner of 3rd and French Street. Built in 1877. Designed by D. K. Dean, built by C. Kerner. This four-room school had 201 seats. The lot was 165 x 165 feet. (Still in use in 1923.) Demolished.
School No. 2 Jones. Located at 150 East 8th Street (on Holland Street between 7th and 8th). Named for Erie School Superintendent Henry S. Jones. Designed by Joseph Frank. Built in 1899. This 10 room school had 436 seats. Built on the same site as a three-story brick school that stood from 1860-1899. Lot size 206 x 165 feet. No longer used as a school. Used the Erie School District Administration building. Still standing!
School No. 3 Lowell. Located at 158 West 16th (and Sassafras Street). Named for James Russell Lowell. Designed by D. K. Dean. Built by F. W. Mueller in 1895. This six-room school had 366 seats. Lot size 123 x 128 feet. Classes discontinued after September 1929. Demolished.
School No. 4 Burns. Located at 414 West 5th Street (on West 5th St. near Chestnut). Named for James R. Burns. Designed by Joseph Frank. Built by F. W. Mueller in 1895. This 10 room school had 507 seats. Lot size 165 x 165 feet. No longer used as a school. Still standing!
School No. 5 Marshall. 234 East 12th Street (between Holland and German). Named for John Marshall. Designed by Joseph Frank. Built by S. Kirchner & Sons in 1891. This eight-room school had 414 seats. Lot size 165 x 165. Demolished. (Note: Pfeiffer-Burleigh Elementary School is nearby at 235 East 11th St. It takes up the entire block bordered by Holland, German, 11th and 12th Streets.)
School No. 6 Irving. 2310 Plum Street (West 24th between Plum and Cascade). Named for Washington Irving. Designed by Joseph Frank. Built by H. Himberger in 1897. This 10 room school had 500 seats. Lot size 270 x 180 feet. (Closed in 2012?) Still standing!
School No. 7 Washington. 148 West 21st Street (near Sassafras Street). Designed by D. K. Dean. Built by J. J. Hogan in 1875. This eight-room school had 385 seats. Lot size 325 x 135 feet. Now used as the Erie School District Administration Bldg. Still standing!
School No. 8 Columbus. 655 West 16th Street (near Poplar). Designed by Porter & Watkins. Built by Constable & Ramsey in 1875. This eight-room school had 418 seats. Lot size 247 x 205 feet. No longer used as a school. Still standing!
School No. 9 Franklin. 2617 Peach Street. Designed by Joseph Frank. Built by S. Kirschner & Sons in 1891. This eight-room school had 396 seats. Lot size 165 x 250 feet. No longer used as a school. Still standing!
School No. 10 Gridley. 816 Park Avenue North (between Liberty and Plum). Designed by Porter & Watkins and built by Henry Shenk in 1871; The architect on the 1896 addition was Joseph Frank and the contractor was G. W. Fassett. This eight-room school had 462 seats. Lot size 165 x 165 feet. Now Emerson-Gridley Elementary School. Still standing!
School No. 11 Jackson. East 11th and French Street. Designed by Rose & von Langen. Built by Constable & Ramsey in 1873. This eight-room school had 51 seats. Lot size 123 x 160 feet. Demolished.
School No. 12 Wayne. 650 East Ave. Designed by Porter & Watkins. Built in 1875 by John Hendey. The architect on the 1893 addition was Joseph Frank and the contractor was G. W. Fassett. This eight-room school had 423 seats. Lot size 165 x 165 feet. Was a middle school and now an elementary school. Demolished and rebuilt on the same site. Architects J. W. Yard & Son were awarded the contract to design a three-story fireproof school building at the corner of 6th and East Avenue. Constable Brothers was awarded the contract for the construction of Wayne Middle School, in May of 1913, with a budget of $100,000. Still standing!
School No. 13 Penn. 554 East 10th Street. Designed by D. K. Dean. Built in 1881 by S. Kirschner. Joseph Frank designed the expansion and it was built by William Ackerman in 1896. This ten-room school had 556 seats. Lot size 158 x 160 feet. No longer used as a school. Still standing!
School No. 14 Garfield. 316 East 21st (and German Street). Designed by Joseph Frank. Built by F. W. Mueller in 1895. This ten-room school had 570 seats. Lot size 247 x 170 feet. Demolished.
School No. 15 Jefferson. East 23rd and Ash Street. Designed by Porter & Watkins. Built by Henry Shenk. The architect on the 1890 addition was D. K. Dean & Son and the contractor was C. Kerner. This eight-room school had 442 seats. Lot size 248 x 128. Demolished. (This name was used for the new Jefferson Elementary School at 230 East 38th Street.)
Jefferson Elementary School. 230 East 38th Street. Still standing!
School No. 16 Longfellow. 509 West 8th Street (8th and Walnut Street). Designed by D. K. Dean. Built by C. Kerner in 1883. This eight-room school had 479 seats. Lot size 165 x 196. Still standing!
School No. 17 McKinley. 961 East 22nd Street. Designed by C. P. Cody, built by Gunnison Brothers in 1901. Lot size 270 x 210 feet. Demolished and rebuilt on same lot, different footprint, new address: 933 East 22nd Street.
School No. 18 Emerson. 1010 West 10th (and Cascade Street). Designed by Gaggin & Gaggin. Built by Henry Shenk Co. in 1905 and remodeled or enlarged in 1924. Lot size 247 x 330 feet. No longer used as a school. Still standing!
Burton Elementary School. 1661 Buffalo Road. A very old school which was added onto. It was acquired by the Erie School District when Erie annexed this part of Millcreek Township.) No longer used as a school. Still standing!
JoAnna Connell Elementary School. 1820 East 38th Street. Opened in 1958. Still standing!
Diehl Elementary School. 2300 Fairmont Parkway. Built in 1953. Still standing!
Edison Elementary School. 1921 East Lake Road. Opened between 1925 and 1931. Still standing!
Glenwood Elementary School. 3549 Peach Street. This school was acquired by the Erie School District when Erie annexed this part of Millcreek Township. Still standing!
Grover Cleveland Elementary School. 1540 West 38th Street. Still standing!
Hamilton Elementary School. 2931 Harvard Ave. No longer used as a public school. Still standing!
Harding Elementary School. 820 Lincoln Ave. K-8 school. The northern addition was built in 1951. Click to view a photo of the Harding addition. Still standing!
Lincoln Elementary School. 831 East 31st Street. Lincoln was built around 1918. Still standing!
Perry Elementary School. 955 West 29th Street (and Cascade). Designed by J. W. Yard. Built by Kirschner Brothers in 1913. Lot size 270 x 330 feet. Still standing!
Roosevelt Middle School. 2300 Cranberry Street. Still standing!
Wilson Middle School. 718 East 28th Street. Opened in 1927. Still standing!
Academy High School. 2825 State Street. Opened in 1920. (Now Northwest PA Collegiate Academy.) Still standing! Click here for more information about Academy.
Central High School. 3325 Cherry Street. Memorial Jr. High School was built in 1956; Technical Memorial High School was built in 1959. (This school has had different names through the years, such as Tech, Twin Tech, Technical Memorial, Memorial Junior High School was next door, connected by the auditorium.) Still standing!
Strong Vincent High School. 1330 West 8th Street. Designed by W. W. Meyers. Built by Upton-Lang Co. in 1930. Still standing!
Enjoy more fun facts about the history of Erie, PA at: Old Time Erie
I find this blog very interesting as I am beginning to work on family history. I attended Perry School 1st through most of 5th grade and finished 5th through 6th grade at Jefferson School located at 38th and Holland. I attended Academy HS for 7th through first semester of senior year, when my family move to Phoenix.
ReplyDeleteThere was an old school bldg next to Glenwood in the 1960s to the right where the firehall now stands. Maybe that was Glenwood when it was annexed from Millcreek
ReplyDeleteI went to Glenwood Elementary back in the 50's..My Mom graduated from Strong Vincent.
ReplyDeleteInteresting site. I attended Penn Grade School, Longfellow Grade school, Gridley JR High, and Strong Vincent High. My Mother taught at Wayne Grade school on 6th and East Ave in room 105 for 30+ years.
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DeleteOh the Old Glenwood School next to the new one.
ReplyDeleteHad Beatiful Hard wood flooring.
And Mr Grappy was the Janitor
The school is gone what a waste
Mr Grappy is likely gone..
But the memories are still with me
I am the second great grand son of Joseph and Francis Kirschner. It is great that I am able to find and see some of the buildings that the Kirschner Brothers Lumber had built. I believe they may have built the first St Joes home, St Patric's Church, St Andrews... Oh also the first owners of a houseboat on Horseshoe pond. Lots of history.
ReplyDeleteI went to Hamilton elementary in the late 1950's, early 1960's, grades 4 through 6. I went to Roosevelt jr. High 1961-1962.
ReplyDeleteI lived across the street from Hamilton which means my walk to Roosevelt was long and cold in the winter.
Don't find Harding elementary in the list. I went there K-6th grade, from 1938 to 1945. Ruth Johnson was the art teacher, a favorite of many, who was a closet gum-chewer (a "crime" for kids then). Wrigleys Spearmint Gum, for some reason, was among the hard-to-get items during WW2. Some showed up at Wagner's Candy Store during lunch time, so some of us pooled our money to get a 5 cent pack for her. Better than an apple!
ReplyDeleteA P.S.: Harding was (is?) on the SW corner of W 8th and Lincoln.
ReplyDelete