In 1882, Jackson had only one public school, located in the West Capitol Street engine house. It housed a faculty of only three. In 1884, another school was built on College Green. It had a faculty of four.
Central High School was established in 1888.[2] It was an all-white school until the mid 1960s.[3] Donna Ladd, in an article in the Jackson Free Press, described it as one of several "jewels in the crown of white Jackson back before forced integration—in a time when white conservatives abundantly funded public schools and extracurricular activities with tax money for their own."[4] In the fall of 1966, the first African-American students attended the school.[3] Jackson schools integrated by law as per Derek Jerome Singleton vs. the Jackson Public School District, decided in 1969.[5]
In August 2015, smoke from a fire in a nearby hotel, as well as water resulting from the incident, damaged the Central High building, so the Mississippi Department of Education temporarily moved its headquarters to the South Pointe Business Park in Clinton. The headquarters was scheduled to move back on July 25, 2016.[1]
Even though Jackson was a small town, Jacksonians felt a need to build another school. In December 1888, a new school was completed at a cost of $25,000. That school, Jackson Grade School, had a faculty that consisted of eleven members. J. C. Brooks was its first principal. About 400 pupils applied for first enrollment. The new school offered a ten-year course. A careful written examination was administered. The results – none of the students were prepared to go beyond the eighth grade. And there were only 13 students qualified for that level. By 1891, five students comprised its first graduating class.
But as Jackson increased in size and so did the number of students. In 1897, there were more than 600 students enrolled in Jackson schools. By 1898, leaders in Jackson realized the need for grammar schools. Poindexter was the first elementary school erected with others soon to follow.
In 1907, the foundation for the present Central High School building was laid. Jackson Grade School became known as Central High School – all grammar grades having been removed. At its conception, Central offered classes through 10th grade. By 1908, the 11th grade was added, and the graduating class consisted of 6 students. Finally in 1910, Central had a 12 year school with graduates.
Also in 1910, the Quadruplane was published as Central High School’s first yearbook.
Central High’s growth continued causing rebuilding and enlargements in the years 1911, 1915, 1925 and 1936. A portion of the original 1911 structure still exists. The 1925 changes included moving the Greek columns from the front of the building and adding a floor in addition to the still existing towers.
The 1925 changes to Old Central High School make it the finest example of Tudor Gothic or “Jacobian” institutional architecture in Mississippi. Other examples of the style, such as the Old Starkville High School of 1927, the Old Hattiesburg High School of 1921, and the Old Greenwood Public Library of 1914, are smaller or less ornate.
Among its Tudor Gothic features are the battlemented turrets, the prominent bay window over the central entrance, the battlemented turrets, and the contrasting stone copings, trim, and window surrounds. All these features derived from the design of Hampton Court – King Henry VIII’s grand palace, built around 1520.
The Tudor Gothic style was favored for educational facilities in the early 20th century because of its association with the great English Universities and the culture of Shakespearean England.
With its tree-shaded lawn and generous set-back from North West Street, Central High School possesses a stately park-like landscape second only to that of the New Capitol Building.
Claude H. Lindsley, a Jackson architect whose practice was most active in the 1920s, was the designer of Central High School. Lindsley designed several of Jackson’s most prominent buildings, including the Tower Building (Standard Life Building), the state’s Art Deco commercial building built in 1929, and the Hinds County Courthouse, built in the 1930s.
The courthouse underwent restoration and enlargement in 1988-89 and now is regarded as a showplace among Mississippi county courthouses. Another of Lindsley’s designs was the Robert E. Lee Hotel, which has also been renovated and serves admirably in its new function as a state office building.
Prior renovations took the 137,500 square foot structure through a metamorphosis of style from Romanesque to neoclassical to Tudor Gothic. The gymnasium and band hall were added in 1936.
In 1892, a 2,500 pound bell cast in Cincinnati was placed in the bower of Central High School. When the building was demolished and the new high school built, the bell went to the fire station where it served as a fire alarm until 1931. In that year, an electric alarm system was installed, and the bell was taken from the fire station bower, and placed on the front of the building where it remained until the CHS Seniors of 1937-1938 decided to return it to Central High School. The seniors took this on as their class project, placing the bell on a concrete base on the south side of the front school campus. Today, the bell is once again located at the Jackson Central Fire Station on the corner of Pearl and President Streets. That building now houses the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. Hopefully, in the future, the bell will again return to its rightful home – Central High School.
Due to a continuing drop in enrollment, in May of 1977, Central High School officially closed its doors. The desegregation of schools was the major factor in the decline of students attending Central High School.
Bellevue is a city in eastern Jackson County, Iowa, United States. The city lies along the Mississippi River and next to Bellevue State Park. In 2020 its population was 2,363; up from a count of 2,191 at the 2010 Census, making it the second-largest and only growing city in Jackson County.
East Hagbourne is a village and civil parish about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Didcot and 11 miles (18 km) south of Oxford. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,882.
Glynn Academy (GA) is an American public high school in Brunswick, Georgia, United States, enrolling 1,900 students in grades 9–12. Along with Brunswick High School, it is one of two high schools in the Glynn County School System. Glynn Academy offers technical, academic, and Advanced Placement programs and is accredited by the Georgia Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school has consistently been ranked among the top public high schools in the United States by Newsweek.
Red Wing School District #256 is a pre-K through grade 12 district located in Red Wing, Minnesota. Red Wing is located in the Mississippi River Valley, fifty miles southeast of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area.
Suddaby Public School, originally known as Central School, is a public elementary school in Kitchener, Ontario. It is located at 171 Frederick Street, in the city's downtown. It serves grades Junior Kindergarten (JK) through grade 6.
Murrah High School is a public high school located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It is a part of the Jackson Public School District.
Haines City Senior High School (HCHS) is a public high school in Haines City, Florida. The school has existed in three separate locations.
The Jackson Public School District (JPSD) or Jackson Public Schools (JPS) is a public school district serving the majority of Jackson, the state capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. Established in 1888, it is the second largest and only urban school district in the state.
The Jackson County School District (JCSD) is a public school district based in Jackson County, Mississippi (USA).
Bailey Magnet High School, originally known as Bailey Junior High School and now Bailey APAC Middle School, is a middle school in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. The mascot of Bailey Magnet Middle School is the Mighty Knights.
Wechsler School is a historic school in Meridian, Mississippi erected in 1894. The school was the first brick public school building in Mississippi built with public funds for African-American children. It originally served primary through eighth grades but was later expanded to include high school as well. The school was named in honor of Rabbi Judah Wechsler of Congregation Beth Israel, who had led and inspired Meridian public to approve a bond issue to raise money for construction of the school. The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 and designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1993.
Warren Central High School is a public high school of Vicksburg Warren School District located in unincorporated Warren County, Mississippi, United States. During the 2015–16 school year, it had 1240 students in its main campus.
The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) is the state education agency of Mississippi. It is headquartered in the former Central High School Building at 359 North West Street in Jackson.
Nemaha Central USD 115 is a public unified school district headquartered in Seneca, Kansas, United States. The district includes the communities of Baileyville, Kelly, Oneida, Seneca, St. Benedict and nearby rural areas of Nemaha County.
The education system in Mississippi consists of elementary, middle, and high schools as well as boarding schools, public and private schools, and colleges and universities.
The Park-to-Park Residential Historic District in Fort Madison, Iowa, United States, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. The historic district is located to the north of the Downtown Commercial Historic District, generally between Central Park on the west and Old Settler's Park on the east. Both parks are contributing sites. For the most part the district is made up of single family homes built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of these homes were built as rental properties, while others became so in later years. The Albright House and the Chief Justice Joseph M. Beck House are contributing properties, and they are also individually listed on the National Register. There are also duplexes and a few small scale apartment buildings in the district.
The architecture of Jacksonville is a combination of historic and modern styles reflecting the city's early position as a regional center of business. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, there are more buildings built before 1967 in Jacksonville than any other city in Florida, though few structures in the city center predate the Great Fire of 1901. Numerous buildings in the city have held state height records, dating as far back as 1902, and last holding a record in 1981.
Claude H. Lindsley was an American architect based in Mississippi.
Noah Webster Overstreet (1888–1973) was an American architect in practice in Jackson, Mississippi from 1912 to 1968.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
