Back to school season is here! So it’s a fitting time to take a stroll back through the years and remember the early history of New Albany High School.
1853 – 1905 – The Beginning
The first high school in New Albany opened on Monday, Oct. 3, 1853. It was located on Spring and W. First, almost next door to the current Floyd County Public Library Building. Just imagine what the community must have felt on that important day! There had been years of planning and working through setbacks and obstacles, and now the goal of opening a high school in New Albany was finally realized. I’m sure those New Albanians were proud of their achievement and were dreaming of the bright future the shiny new school would bring their community.
It was called Scribner High School (no surprise there) and was the first high school in Indiana. The first principal was George H. Harrison. It had 2 Teachers and 59 students.
After only one year of instruction, the high school was forced to close due to an Indiana Supreme Court decision that prohibited the collection of taxes to fund high schools. This put the school trustees in a bind. Without the necessary amount of funding, the high school couldn’t operate throughout the entire school year. As a result, the high school was open only sporadically when private funding was available. When there was no money, the school was closed. The classrooms were then rented out to teachers to use in their private schools.
This went on until 1859 when the school closed completely and remained so until September 1864. During the Civil War all the schools in New Albany were used as hospitals for wounded soldiers. The schools reopened after the last of the solders were transferred to the Jeffersonville hospital or to a hospital in Madison, IN. Once the high school reopened in September of 1864 it remained in continuous operation all the way to the present.
In 1870, the boys and girls were separated. The boys stayed in the original building on Spring and W. 1st, called the Boy’s High School, and the girls moved to a new school on Spring and Bank, called the Female High School. In 1880, the boys and girls were together again. The boys moved into the building on Spring and Bank and this would remain the location of the high school until 1902. The Scribner High School Building was then used as the African American high school building.
Scribner High School on Spring and West First
Female High School on Spring and Bank
Science Laboratory at the Bank St. School Building
Classroom at the Bank St. School Building
In 1902 the high school building was torn down and replaced with the new New Albany Carnegie Public Library. Several lots were purchased for a new high school building on E. Spring and Sixth Street. From 1902-1903 the high school used the large house that was already on the corner lot. It was previously owned by the Frisbie family, and before the Civil War it was the home of the 11th Governor of Indiana, Ashbel P. Willard.
In 1903, the Willard/Frisbie house was torn down and a new building was built in its place. The high school moved to the Depauw College on E. Main and 9th for the two years the new building was being built, from 1903-1905.
The Willard/Frisbie House on E. Spring and Sixth Street
Depauw College on East Main and Ninth Street
1905- 1927 – The People’s College
New Albany High School – The People’s College
In 1905, the new high school building was open and was officially called New Albany High School. A curious thing about the shiny new high school building was the inscription above the impressive front door. Carved in stone was, “The People’s College”. We can only guess why this inscription was chosen by the Trustees to carve in stone above the door of a high school. Maybe the sentiment was one of pride in not only the new building, but also pride in the commitment to provide a first rate educational experience for New Albany’s next generation of leaders.
Harry A. Buerk was the principal when the new building opened in 1905. Charles B. McLinn took over in 1908 and would remain the principal for the rest of the time that New Albany High School was in this building, from 1908-1927.
Charles B. McLinn was beloved by the students. He was well respected all throughout the community. When it came time to renew his contract for the 1927-28 school year, the School Board decided not to do so. Apparently, there were some disagreements between Charles McLinn and the School Board.
The students were so upset they went on strike for several days. 600 students, the New Albany papers reported, were protesting McLinn’s dismissal.
Finally, Charles McLinn met with several of the student leaders and convinced them to end the strike and go back to school. The students relented. Charles P. McLinn walked beside them to the high school and watched as the students walked up the steps, into the school, to return to their classes.
Charles McLinn would go on the serve as the Mayor of New Albany and as the Superintendent of the New Albany School System.
In 1927, the high school moved into the new building at 1020 Vincennes Street, it’s present location. The People’s College was then used as a junior high school and was eventually torn down in 1962.
Demolition of The People’s College in 1962
Demolition of The People’s College in 1962
1927 and Beyond – The Vision Continues
Charles P. McLinn and Cecil C. Katterjohn
New Albany High School first held classes in the present high school building, on Vincennes Street, in 1927. Cecil C. Katterjohn replaced Charles P. McLinn as principal of New Albany High School. He would also serve for about two decades, from 1927-1948.
Between these two men, they oversaw the development of high school students in New Albany for four decades. There is little doubt their impact is still felt today in some way.
The high school student body kept growing as the city of New Albany kept growing. It became necessary yet again, to build a new high school building that could accommodate the city’s growing needs. The new high school building was built on the site of the former New Albany Woolen Mills on Vincennes Street.
The New Albany Woolen Mills was started about 1869 on Vincennes. At the time this area was considered “in the country” and was not considered inside the city limits. On March 23, 1917, a category F4 tornado plowed through parts of New Albany and destroyed much of the woolen mills. A man named Anders Rasmussen purchased the property and sold it to the city of New Albany at a nominal price for the purpose of building a new high school building.
New Albany High School on 1020 Vincennes Street
The New Albany Woolen Mills on Vincennes Street
Shelby Street/Cora Martin School – Later High School Annex
As the school began to outgrow it’s new building, yet again, it became necessary to do some shifting with the elementary schools in order to make the elementary school building next door to the high school available for high school classrooms.
It was located on the corner of Vincennes and Shelby Street. Built in 1892 as an elementary school, it was first called the Shelby Street School, and later renamed the Cora Martin School after a woman who had been a principal of the school and a teacher in New Albany for decades.
Now, the building had a new purpose. It was first used by the high school in 1941 and was called the Annex. It was used as more classroom space. The Annex housed the language classes, a language laboratory, and a student theatre until 1979. It was torn down sometime between 1979-1982 and the current swimming pool is now where this building was located.
1937 Flood- Street Car stuck in front of the New Albany High School
There is one significant event in the history of New Albany High School that deserves to be highlighted. That event was the 1937 flood. The flood happened after days of heavy rainfall at the end of January in 1937. The river crested at 57.1 feet above flood level, the highest ever recorded at that time. It took three weeks for the water to recede. It left much damage and lots of sludge to mark where it had been. Thankfully, a flood wall was built in the early 1940s to prevent such a devastating flood again.
The New Albany High School was used as a temporary hospital and shelter for flood refugees. The High School gymnasium was used as a storeroom for food.
The New Albany High School Senior Class decided to use the flood as the theme of their yearbook, the 1937 Senior Blotter.
The Rising of the Tide
A blotter can’t stop a flood…it isn’t big enough…neither can a flood stop a Blotter..it isn’t big enough…one tried hard enough…and slightly retarded us, we admit…but to prove we bear the 1937 deluge no malice…we’ve used it for our theme…our challenge…our inspiration…our alibi…We present to you…the tide of our school days…ever rising and increasing…until, as Seniors, we gain it’s heights…
1937 Flood refugees seeking shelter at the New Albany High School
1937 Flood refugees seeking shelter at the New Albany High School
From 1955-1982 four phases of additions and renovations took place to bring the New Albany High School building to the sprawling campus of the present day. While 172 years may have passed since the first New Albany high school students walked the halls of a much smaller building, the vision of the bright future those early New Albanians had as they built that first high school building is still alive and well in the New Albanians of today. A future bright. Full of unlimited potential and endless possibilities. And, 172 years from now, I trust it will still be burning just as brightly.
There is more to discover about New Albany High School, and other interesting aspects of New Albany history, in the Indiana Room at the New Albany Branch of the Floyd County Public Library. Come visit us soon!
The current Indiana Room hours are:
Monday: 9 AM – 5:30 PM
Tuesday: 9 AM – 8 PM
Wednesday: 9 AM – 8 PM
Thursday: 9 AM – 5:30 PM
Friday: 9 AM – 5 PM
Saturday: 9 AM – 5 PM
