Central High School - Forx Yearbook (Grand Forks, ND)

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4 Y' f 'S2I2'II. J4' +1 I .. . I- '4 BE? WEST? 3-'53 ADMINISTRATION V.--.. .THE GUIDE, Roma- Bueumemu

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FO px 1 e J: Cur Schools: A Half-Century of Progress T IS indeed difiicult, yet interesting, to associate our present Central ii High, its stately magnificence, marbled corridors, numerous conveni- ences, and efficient faculty, and administration, together with the various grade schools of our city, with their progenitor, that tiny, one-room, single-storied shack built more than a half century ago, on or near the present site of the Presbyterian church. Constructed in the midst of a wheatfield in the year 1873, this diminutive school, dimensions 12 by 18, was then situated on the outskirts of the village. Finances for the structure were secured, not by school assessments, but entirely through the public subscription, partially submitted in the form of labor. A single teacher, Miss Richmond, was secured. Though now seen to be hopelessly inadequate, this pioneer school proved to be the embryo seed from which branched the present educational facilities of the city. --,-+1--,J l 'Q I l 1 ' -r 1, ., Grand 'Forks in I876--Third Street-Looking North. , ' Grand Forks, or Grandes Fourches, as it had been previously termed by French fur traders, was then but a struggling village of about one hundred inhabitants on the banks of the then actually turbulant Red, surrounded by monotonous expanse of prairie, through which the winding timber following the river afforded a most comforting variation. Herds of buffalo had but recently vanished. The village, too, was a desolate sight. Here and there rose a squat claim shack, a general store, a saloon or the ramshackle post-oflice, while a saw mill constituted the backbone of the settlement. Improved educational facilties rapidly followed with the increase of inhabitants, and, in 1875, a new school was erected on the property now occupied by the county jail. This too was a wooden structure, although appreciably larger than its predecessor. Again the funds, 347200, were obtained chiefly through public subscription, although one of the young men attending the school was assessed 39000. Incidentally, this young man, perhaps to show he wanted something for his money, later married Puya' Nina' . xv V, X A, 1 , , -in A ir-