ASHLAND MEMORIES: City schools enter a new era in the early 1900s
In 1910, the Ashland schools had a serious overcrowding problem, and the state inspector had already condemned two schools that were in use: the old Pleasant Street school and the dwelling house that had been converted into a school.
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Existing classrooms were quite literally overflowing with students. First-grade teachers were conducting two half-day sessions, just to accommodate all their pupils. They squeezed extra seats into some classrooms, in violation of state law.
Portable buildings were a stopgap measure
That fall they erected a portable building on the Central School grounds, which provided extra classroom space. But portable buildings were merely a stopgap measure.
The bond issue that came before the voters that fall was critical. If it passed, the district could build a new school at Pleasant Street and another somewhere north of the Erie tracks.
The school board also planned a two-room addition to the Fourth Street school. The addition included classrooms, a hallway, cloakrooms and a playroom for the students to use in inclement weather. Additional windows were required to bring the building up to code.
It cost just shy of $25,000 to run the schools the previous year. The bulk of that amount came from local taxes, with $2,661 coming from state funds. Non-resident pupils who paid tuition brought in an additional $1,092.
Lincoln and Pleasant Street school buildings open
School officials must have breathed a sigh of relief when two new school buildings opened during the following school year. Lincoln opened in December 1911, providing four new classrooms, and a new brick building opened at Pleasant Street in January of 1912.
But the schools on the south side were still overcrowded. The Bank Street school, now known as Grant Street, had opened in 1890 and housed three grades. The district hoped to build an addition, which would be more economical than new construction.
However, Grant Street had to wait, perhaps because the need for a new high school was more pressing. The district brought in a portable building at Grant Street and used it for 10 years before an addition was finally built in 1923.
Bond issue approved for new high school
At a special election in February 1914, Ashland voters approved a $100,000 bond issue for a new high school. The building was expected to hold 360 students. For the time being, the old Central building would be used as the junior high.
There was some talk of moving the 1874 Central building to the Church Street side of the lot. With generous frontage on Cottage Street, planners thought that would be a good location for the new structure.
In the end, I believe they left the old school where it stood. The builders squeezed the new school in front of the old. Portions of the old school walls were sandwiched into the building when McDowell Auditorium was constructed in 1926. Traces could faintly be distinguished when the building was demolished in 2016.
Excavation began in June 1914 when the Carmichael Construction Company of Akron commenced digging with seven teams of horses and fifteen men.
Officials dedicated the new building on Labor Day 1915, with newspaper headlines promising a “new era.”
— Sarah Kearns, who writes the Ashland Memories column every other Saturday, works at the Ashland Public Library. Her email is firstname.lastname@example.org.