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Education
Martinsville's earliest
schools were no doubt private subscription schools, in which parents pooled
their funds to hire teacher. Classes were typically held in homes. This
system began to fade away with passage of the Common School Law of 1824,
which provided for the local collection of taxes to be used in establishing
public schools.
In 1852, the legislature
passed the Free School Law placing the control of local schools in the civil
township and authorizing it to collect taxes. The Free School Law also
established the State Board of Education. Challenges to the law were
immediate. Quickly withdrawn and later, in 1862, re-instated, the legal
collection of local taxes solidified Indiana's educational system and pushed
forward a period of rapid and progressive development.
In Martinsville, the
earliest permanent public school building was the Second Ward School, later
North School, located on East Cunningham Street below Cunningham
Hill. Constructed in 1868, the three-story Romanesque-style building had
two rooms on the first and second floors and a large assembly room on the
third. It housed elementary classes as well as the first public high school.
Following several additions to the building, the high school, in 1901, moved
out of North School. In 1911 the third floor was removed and the old
building made into an elementary school consisting of grades one through
six.
The original North School
was demolished and replaced by the second North School, which was
dedicated on November 20, 1960. This school was discontinued in 1990.
North
School (1960), East Cunningham Street
The original Central
School, a two-story brick school consisting of four rooms, was erected
in 1885. By 1897, the number of students had outgrown the building, and a
four-room addition was built on the east side. A larger, $16,000 high school
addition was built on the north side between 1900 and 1901. The new high
school consisted of seven classrooms, a large assembly room, and offices for
the principal and city school superintendent. On February 10, 1966, the last
classes were held in the old Central School, and in November of that same
year, the old structure was demolished. The current Central School
building welcomed a new generation of schoolchildren in 1968.
Crowded conditions at the
North and Central Schools led to the creation of South School in
1897. During this year, a two-room frame building was erected. In 1904,
it was replaced by a six-room brick building with grades one through six. The
Romanesque Revival South School building was last used for classes during
the 1972-1973 school year. In 1980, the year this photo was taken, when the
school board failed to sell the building for its appraised price, the
school was razed to make way for the new administration building. The
original corner stone is now located in the lobby of the new South School
erected in 1990 on Mahalasville Road.
In the 1950s, two new
elementary schools were built. Poston Road Elementary School,
completed in 1957, featured the most modern of school equipment, including
toilet facilities in each classroom and cooled water fountains. One year
later, East (Smith) Elementary School later renamed after longtime
principal, Charles Smith, was presented to the public in an open house. The
building received an addition in 1966. In a few years, both school buildings
will reach the age of 50 and be considered historic.
Poston
Road Elementary School (1957), Poston Road
East
(Smith) Elementary School (1958), East Columbus Street
Martinsville's first high
school—designed and built solely for high school students—was built in 1913
on South Main Street. A new junior high addition for seventh and eighth
grade students followed in 1924. By 1954, it had become a complete junior
high school consisting of eighteen classrooms, a cafeteria, offices and a
clinic. It received an addition five years later. Despite these attempts to
accommodate the growing pre-teen school population, by 1962 it was
necessary to relocate all of the classes to the new junior high school on
East Columbus Street. Following the demolition of the old Martinsville High
School building in 1978, the original junior high building was remodeled and
became West Middle School.
Completed in 1962,
East Middle School was originally Martinsville Junior High School, the
solution to overcrowding in the junior high addition at the high school. It
celebrated its dedication with a special open house and celebration
ceremony in March 1963, two months after the school welcomed its first
students. Located on East Columbus Street adjacent to Smith Elementary,
East Middle School received an addition in 1989 that updated it for
continued use.
West Middle School (1924/1954/1962/1978/1982), East Garfield Avenue
East
Middle School (1962/1989), East Columbus Street
Prior to 1877, the
Martinsville High School was located in the converted third-floor
assembly room of the original North School building. In 1901, it moved into
a $16,000 high school addition to Central School. The high school proudly
graced many photographic postcards of the time.
Martinsville High School (1913, no longer exists), South Main Street
By 1913, the number of
students had become so large that a new building was required. A site at
Main and Garfield Street was purchased and a Neo-Classical building erected.
Its proximity to downtown led to the success of many businesses popular with
a teen-age clientele, including Charlie's Drive-In and the Candy Kitchen.
In 1973, plans were made to abandon the 1913 high school building in favor of a new one on the
east side of Martinsville. Completed in 1976 and ready for students in
December of that same year, the new Martinsville High School featured an
Instructional Media Center, general commons, driving range and tower,
teacher's resource area, planetarium, and second-floor natatorium, among
others.
The old Martinsville High
School, constructed in 1913, was razed in 1979. The junior high portion,
considerably altered, is now known as West Middle School. In 1981, the
interior of the historic Glenn Curtis Gymnasium was remodeled. It is still
in use.
To learn more about the development of education in
Morgan County, click
here. |
