Strong Vincent High School Aerial View

Taken from the air, looking southwest at Strong Vincent High School. Photo courtesy of the Erie School District.

Strong Vincent High School, at 1330 West 8th St. in Erie, PA, was built in 1930. This incredible aerial photograph shows how undeveloped and the area was. At one time all of the property north of West 8th Street that is visible in this picture was owned by Charles Hamot Strong. It's a neat coincidence that Strong Vincent was built on the Strong estate. C. H. Strong was a very shrewd businessman; he was president of the Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad Company in 1908, owned the Erie Dispatch newspaper and held an interest in many other ventures.

Actress Ann B. Davis graduated from Strong Vincent, as did Tom Lawless. Lawless played professional baseball for eight seasons, 1982 to 1990, for the Cincinnati Reds, the Expos, the Cardinals and the Blue Jays.

The Bayfront Highway follows the path of the old railroad tracks on the right side of this photo. The intersection near the upper right hand corner of the high school is 8th and Weschler. Reed Manufacturing is across the street from the school, a block to the west.

Enjoy more fun historical facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at Old Time Erie

Connell Elementary School Talent Show

Joanna Connell School talent show. Photo courtesy Erie School District.

Here we go round the mulberry bush. Lots of children participated in the talent show at JoAnna Connell School on East 38th and Stanton Street in Erie, PA. Look closely to see if you recognize any of the students. The Connell Cougars played basketball in the school gym, shown in the photo above. 

Eric "Broadway" Jones, manager of the Harlem Wizards basketball team, spoke to students and faculty in the Connell school gym on February 3, 2014. 

This Erie public school opened in 1958 and is located at 1820 East 38th St. It was named in honor of JoAnna Connell, an exceptional woman who taught English at the old Central High School on 10th and Sassafras in the 1920s and at Strong Vincent High School. She was born in September of 1878 in Pennsylvania and lived on West 11th Street in Erie in 1940. Miss Connell died in October of 1964 and was buried in St. James Cemetery in Crossingville, Crawford Co., PA.

Find more fun facts and old pictures of Erie Pennsylvania at Old Time Erie

Villa Maria Academy Circa 1903

The old Villa Maria Elementary School was built around 1892 on the southwest corner of 8th and Liberty in Erie, PA. The photo above was taken around 1903, before the houses were constructed on the north side of West 8th St. When Villa opened it had 85 students. Villa Maria Academy moved to a different location on West 8th in 1953. Villa Maria Elementary followed, moving to 2551 West 8th St. in 1993. The institutions are run by the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Enjoy more fun historical facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at Old Time Erie

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