Times were exciting in the spring of 1908 in Oneonta. The legislation for the village to become a city was being finalized and it was getting to be any day now that Gov. Charles Evans Hughes would sign the bill into law. As it turned out, the governor signed the legislation on May 21.
Almost a month earlier, a memorable landmark in Oneonta was ready to open, and with a good amount of ceremony. That was the new high school on Academy Street, and opening day was set for Thursday, April 23.
Events leading up to that day had started almost a year before. In the Thursday, March 21, 1907, edition of The Oneonta Herald it was reported that the final day at the high school, also located on Academy Street, would be Friday. That high school was where today's Academy Arms Apartments are found.
The timing of the closure was for the Easter vacation that year, giving time for the removal of school furniture to other sites, before the start of what was then called spring term.
"Friday evening," the Herald said, "the Class of '07, Oneonta High School, consisting of ten members, will give a reception to the Junior class and faculty, with which reception occupation of the building ceases for all school purposes."
The Herald writer waxed nostalgic in the article, calling the closure, "a source alike of pride and regret "" pride at the growth of our town and in the enlightened public spirit which has caused the erection of a magnificent new High school building on Academy Street, regret on the part of many at a passing of a structure which since 1868 has been the center of Oneonta's educational system, which has sent so many worthy men and women out into the world."
The old building began as a Union school in 1868. As the village and town of Oneonta grew, two classroom wings were added, and by the turn of the 20th century, the school was getting overcrowded.
While the old building was torn down and the new building was under construction, the high school department and students were relocated to the third floor and some lower floor rooms at the YMCA on the former Broad Street, which closed in 1965 and was torn down during the years of Oneonta's urban renewal projects. The primary and intermediate departments moved across the street to the state armory, known today as the Asa C. Allison Municipal Building.
By early April 1908, the building was nearly complete and it was just a matter of coordinating the move back from the remote classrooms to the school. The opening day was set for Thursday, April 23.
"The students and teachers of the High school have taken great interest in the matter of interior adornment of the new building," the Herald reported. "The students have secured by subscription among themselves a considerable sum for the purpose of placing pictures in each of the rooms in their department. The teachers have presented a handsome reading desk, which will be placed in the assembly hall."
Ceremonies began and took place at different times of the day. Morning exercises began for students, faculty and the school board. A special chapel service had a formal presentation of the building to the school by Superintendant H.W. Rockwell. There was also an address by architect Edward E. Joralemon of Niagara Falls.
The building was open to the public for inspection from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., and the teachers of the school acted as a "reception committee."
The evening event was held in the auditorium. Speakers included Rockwell, Dr. Percy I. Bugbee, principal of the State Normal School; and guest speaker the Hon. Andrew S. Draper, the state commissioner of education. Draper was an Otsego County native from Westford.
The speeches encouraged the audience to make this school the best it could be. Rockwell's speech focused on the fact that at the time the Union school opened in 1868, the total village school population was 200. With the opening of this building and with all the other newer district schools in the village, the enrollment had grown to 1,800. The Union school was built for $5,000. The new high school cost around $110,000.
The Oneonta Star's headline over the story the next morning was "As Good as The Best." Mr. Joralemon had indeed designed a source of pride for Oneonta.
Another school was built next door in 1927. After another new high school opened in 1964 on East Street, these two buildings served as a junior high school until 1976, and were torn down shortly thereafter.
On Monday: A noteworthy Oneonta builder created some great homes and turned out some other great projects in the first half of the 20th century.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.
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