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Above
is the frame structure used for McKeesport's first public school.
It opened in 1841 and was used for just a few years until it was
converted into a private residence. The building was torn down
this week to make way for construction of a new and expanded Salvation
Army facility. At the time it was erected, the school reportedly
had only two stories. The third "ground" floor was said
to have been added by "lifting up the top two levels."
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McKeesport's first "private" school stands
in a quiet spot in Renziehausen Park, preserved intact as a community
landmark.
But, the first public school, a frame structure
built in 1841 on Walnut Street, has met another fate. Like many
other downtown buildings, it has been razed to make way for new
development, in this case a new and expanded Salvation Army facility.
The school saw limited service - it was used only
a few years before it was converted into a dwelling that was part of the
residence of Audley Calhoun, according to published accounts of the city's
past.
Reports indicate the building originally had two
stores and say a third was added later by "just lifting up the top
floors." Eventually, a hat cleaning and show repair shop were
located on the ground level.
Public Funds Used
At the time of its demolition, the school was
located adjacent to the now vacant Salvation Army building. It was
erected approximately eleven years after the construction of the
schoolhouse that presently stands in Renziehausen Park. Funds for
the latter were obtained by "private subscription," but the
Walnut Street structure was built with public funds.
The first teacher in the school has been
identified as Dr. James E. Huey in the official "Souvenir
Programme" published in conjunction with McKeesport's 1910 observance
of Old Home Week.
His assistants are listed as John Rowland, who
helped during the first term, and W. E. Harrison, who was on hand for the
second term.
When city officials gathered to select a site for
McKeesport's second public school, they moved down a block to Market
Street and in 1849 constructed a new building at the corner of Sixth and
Market.
That facility was torn down in 1863 and the
present Market Street building erected.
Several years later, in 1880, another school was
built on Walnut Street, but this building, too, was destined for
demolition. It was removed to permit construction of the city's new
post office.
While it stood, however, it reportedly served as
the town's first high school and in 1884, ten students - seven girls and
three boys - became the first class to be "accorded the dignity of a
formal commencement" from its doors.
In the alumni section f the 1926 edition of
McKeesport High School's yearbook, the Yough-A-Mon, the Class of 1884 was
described as follows:
Graduates Recalled
"Clara Hadingson is Mrs. J. L. Hammitt
of this city. Arthur R. May is in the real estate business
here. C. P. Junker is a member of Junker & Foster Company, on
Walnut Street. Mrs. Elizabeth Newlin is a member of the School
Board.
"Harry Gibson resides at Muskogee, Oklahoma;
Kate M. Hutchinson conducts a private school in this city. Anne E.
Richards teaches sixth grade in Eleventh Ward School. Anne B.
Painter resides on Walnut Street; Esther M. Douthitt lives at Los Angeles,
California."
The Yough-A-Mon account went on to say that the
Class of 1884 graduation "impressed everyone as a very important
event and gala time."
"Refreshments were served to the graduates
and their friends. The girls furnished the cake and the boys, the
ice cream."
The 1922 Yough-A- Mon had these comments on the
class members: "They had gone through three years of class work
with but two teachers in charge. Yet, in those three years, they
laid the foundation of one of the strongest and best schools in the state
of Pennsylvania."
A history of the school system at the Carnegie
Free Library here states that the high school eventually was transferred
to the Ninth Avenue School, which was built in 1890 and located "next
to the Walnut Street School." |
