The original McKinley building on Market Avenue North was opened on March 27, 1918. The students of Central High School and North High School were moved to the new building. The school was named for President William McKinley (whose home was across the street from McKinley High School) and his sister, Anna McKinley, who taught in the Canton Public Schools for 30 years. When it opened, it was the only high school in Canton. By 1943, it was one of four high schools, as enrollment in the city schools dictated Lehman High School, Lincoln High School, and Timken Vocational High School be opened.
McKinley High School's enrollment peaked in the 1935 – 1936 school year with 4,000 students attending.[2] As the city of Canton's population declined, so did city school enrollment. In the spring of 1976, the Canton City Schools closed all four high schools in the city. Lehman and Lincoln reverted to junior high schools, and Timken Senior High School and McKinley Senior High School were their replacements. McKinley Senior opened in a new building on the site of Fawcett Stadium.
On February 25, 2015, Canton City Schools approved the "one community, one school" initiative by merging Timken High School into McKinley High School (also known as the pre-mentioned Early College High School), giving Canton a single high school for the first time since 1937. Freshmen of the merged schools will attend the Freshmen Academy located at the current Timken High School, while grades 10–12 attend the senior high school located at the current McKinley building. The remaining high school will retain the McKinley name, mascot, and colors.[3]
On May 24, 2021, head football coach Marcus Wattley allegedly forced an unnamed 17-year-old football team member to eat a pizza made with pork, although the student's religious beliefs prohibited him from consuming pork or pork residue. The Canton City School District announced that the head coach had been suspended, and later that he had been fired.[4][5][6][7] Wattley's Twitter account was then deleted soon after.[8][9]
Athletics
McKinley competes in the Federal League, one of the oldest athletic conferences in Ohio.
Canton McKinley is 10th in the nation in football wins all-time, with 873 as of December 202. McKinley is also second in Ohio in win totals.[citation needed] McKinley has won 12 State Titles and 2 National Titles. Since the playoff format began, McKinley has won three State Titles, in 1981, 1997, and 1998. They have been State Runner-Up three times in 1977, 1985, and 2004.
The Canton McKinley vs. Massillon Washington rivalry is the 13th most played rivalry in the nation, with 129 meetings between the schools. The rivalry is also tied for the nation's 14th oldest, dating back to 1894 and was profiled in the November 14, 1994 issue of Sports Illustrated. The Great American Rivalry Series which features the nation's top high school football rivalries has highlighted the rivalry 11 times since 2006.
McKinley has won three State Championships in 1983–84, 2004–05, and 2005–2006. They have been State Runners-Up eight times, and hold Ohio records for most appearances in the Championship game (11), Final Four appearances (23), and Sweet Sixteen appearances (48). McKinley has had several players move on to the NBA, including Nick Weatherspoon, Phil Hubbard, Gary Grant, Eric Snow, Michael Hawkins, and Keith McLeod.
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(October 2019)
Phil Hubbard – former professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association from 1979 to 1989, and current Assistant Coach of the Washington Wizards
Rip Miller – member of Notre Dame's "Seven Mules", Navy Midshipmen football Head Coach and associate athletic director; College Football Hall of Fame inductee
Mary Orr – Broadway actress, author, playwright; Her short story / radio play "The Wisdom of Eve" was made into the movie All About Eve and was nominated for 14 Academy Awards, winning 6
John Alfred Scali – ABC Washington, D.C. beat reporter; helped resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis. Appointed "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary" to the United Nations by President Nixon
Don Scott – two-time All American football player at Ohio State University; was the ninth overall selection in the 1941 NFL draft, but died in World War II
Nick Weatherspoon – All-American basketball player at the University of Illinois before a nine-year NBA career that included stops in Washington, Seattle, Chicago and San Diego
Jim Aiken – Coach: Head football and basketball; would go on to coach at the University of Akron, University of Nevada, Reno, and University of Oregon
Paul Bixler – Coach: Head basketball, assistant football; would go on to coach at Ohio State and Colgate; Director of Player Personnel for the NFL Cleveland Browns
Ron Chismar – Coach: Head football; would go on to coach at Wichita State University
Len Fontes – Coach: Asst. football; would go on to coach NFL defensive backs.
Canton is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio, United States. It is located approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Cleveland and 20 miles (32 km) south of Akron in Northeast Ohio on the edge of Ohio's Amish Country. As of the 2020 census, the population of Canton was 70,872, making Canton eighth among Ohio cities in population. It is the largest municipality in the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area, which includes all of Stark and Carroll counties, and was home to 401,574 residents in 2020.
Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, formerly Fawcett Stadium, is a football stadium and entertainment complex in Canton, Ohio. It is a major component of Hall of Fame Village, located adjacent to the grounds of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The venue hosts the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game and serves as the home field for the football teams from Canton McKinley High School. It also served as the home field for Malone University from 1993 to 2018 and Walsh University from 1998 to 2022. It also served as the home stadium for a number of other Canton-area high schools.
GlenOak High School is a public high school in Plain Township, Ohio, United States, near Canton. It is the only high school in the Plain Local School District. Sports teams are called the Golden Eagles, and they compete in the Ohio High School Athletic Association as a member of the Federal League.
Holy Name High School (HNHS) is a private, Catholic, co-educational high school in Parma Heights, Ohio, US. It is a part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
Lima Senior High School, the only high school in the Lima City Schools District, was established in 1955, in Lima, Ohio. There are approximately 1,500 students currently enrolled at Lima Senior.
Wilbur Francis "Pete" Henry was an American football player, coach, and athletic administrator. He was a charter inductee into both the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
East Technical High School or East Tech is a secondary school under the operation of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Cleveland, Ohio.
Cleveland Heights High School is the senior high school of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, located in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, United States.
Oberlin High School is a public high school in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Oberlin City Schools district.
St. Vincent–St. Mary High School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory Catholic high school in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is sponsored by the Society of Mary and is associated with the Diocese of Cleveland. As of the 2017–18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 638 students.
Hoover High School, often referred to as North Canton Hoover, is a public high school in North Canton, Ohio, United States.
Bridgeport High School is a public high school in Bridgeport, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Bridgeport Exempted Village School District. Bridgeport plays in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference. Their mascot is the Bulldog and the school colors are Columbia blue, black, and white. The school moved to its current location at 55707 Industrial Dr. in January 2007. The new school complex houses all Pre-K - 12 students.
Martins Ferry High School is a public high school in Martins Ferry, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Martins Ferry City School District. Athletic teams compete as the Martins Ferry Purple Riders in the Ohio High School Athletic Association as a member of the Buckeye 8 Athletic League as well as the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.
Middletown High School is a public high school in Middletown, Ohio. It is the only public high school in the Middletown City School District.
Ironton High School (IHS) is a public high school in Ironton, Ohio, United States. It is the only public high school in the Ironton City School District.
Dover High School is a public high school in Dover, Ohio, United States, and is the only secondary school in the Dover City School District. Athletic teams compete as the Dover Crimson Tornadoes in the Ohio High School Athletic Association as a member of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.
Garland A. Rivers is an American former professional football defensive back who was selected in the 1987 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played briefly for the Chicago Bears in the 1987 NFL season after having starred as an All-American for the Michigan Wolverines football team for whom he set the single-game tackles record as a sophomore. This record still stands. After returning to the University of Michigan to complete his bachelor's degree, he returned to professional football for several seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL). However, before returning to professional football he became embroiled in a scandal involving sports agents engaging amateur athletes.
The Federal League is an Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) sports conference that was established in 1964 and includes schools from Stark and Summit counties.
The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association, from 1920 to 1923, and again from 1925 to 1926. The Bulldogs won the 1916, 1917, and 1919 Ohio League championships. They were the NFL champions in 1922 and 1923. In 1921–1923, the Bulldogs played 25 straight games without a defeat. This remains an NFL record.
Dominique Robinson is an American professional football defensive end for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Miami (OH).
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.
