Top 3 Erie Academy High Schools

Long before the Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy made its debut as a college-prep magnet school in Erie, PA, there was a public high school known as Academy High School. But before the the NPCA and AHS, there was another Academy, the granddaddy of them all- Erie Academy.

Erie Academy was incorporated on March 25, 1817. Its trustees included Rev. Robert Reid, R. S. Reed, Robert Brown, Thomas Forster, Thomas Wilson, J. C. Wallace, Judah Colt, T. H. Sill and Giles Sanford.

During the 1859-60 school year there were 239 students; 115 boys and 124 girls. The tuition in 1891 was $400 per anum and students were admitted from throughout the region.

Erie Academy had a couple of different locations. The one in this illustration was located on Peach Street between 9th and 10th. Not to be confused with the old Central High School on Sassafras Street between 10th and 11th Streets (Central Tech).

"In 1878 the old academy buildings were entirely remodeled and modernized. The stone and brick structure gave place to an imposing edifice surmounted with a Gothic mansard roof, making the building three stories high. There are two main entrances facing Ninth Street. Upon the ground floor are two fine study rooms, spacious halls and stair cases for reaching the second floor, where are two similar large rooms for the intermediate departments, with two smaller ones for recitations. The third story is all in one large hall, with high ceilings suitable for lectures, drill room and school exhibitions." -Erie Pennsylvania Illustrated (1888).

The approximate location of the old Erie Academy would be the present site of Tullio Towers at 21 West 9th St. in downtown Erie, PA. 

Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: Old Time Erie