District History

Education

A Quick History of Schools in the University District

Columbus Public Schools came into being in 1845 when the City was made a separate school district; however, the only school recorded is the log cabin school of North Columbus, which was not part of the City of Columbus until near the end of the 19th century. This log school served children on both sides of the Olentangy River and was located on Mill Street (to become Neil Avenue) on approximately the same site as the present Neil Avenue School. Since there was no bridge across the Olentangy, the Henderson children and others who lived on the west bank of the Olentangy did not attend school when the river was high. Some children in the area attended schools in Worthington or downtown Columbus prior to and around the time of the Civil War.

According to a 1913 school report from Columbus Public Schools, the following schools were located in or served children in the present-day boundaries of the University District:

North High School, at Fourth and Dennison (later known as Everett Junior High when the "new" North was built in the 1920s). This school was built in 1892 with an addition in 1900. The cost was $68,343.91 and the addition cost $45,627.83. The cost of the site was $26,000. It had 39 rooms and served 985 students and 38 teachers. Charles Everett was the principal (he lived at 1256 Neil) and the boundaries for attendance were Mock Road (drawn down to the Olentangy River, east to the Big Four RR, south and west to High Street, south to Long Street, west to the Scioto River where the Olentangy and the Scioto come together. All students in that area, except first-year students living north of 8th Avenue and east of High Street and north of 11th and west of High attended North High.

Students in the University District also had the option (as did all students regardless of where they lived in the city) to go the High School of Commerce which was at East Broad and Sixth Street built in 1860. They only had to complete 8th grade and desire a thorough business course.

Above North Columbus, Clinton Avenue School, built in 1895, served students living in Clinton Township, if they lived at Olentangy Street or further north, along the North Columbus Pike (High Street). Crestview had just been built. If students lived west of the University District, they went to Lane Avenue School which was built in 1912. Their principal lived at 31 East Lane.

Eighth Avenue School was at Eighth and Wesley and was built 1889 with an addition in 1905. The cost was $10,387, and the site cost $12,000. There were 19 rooms which served 542 students and 16 teachers. For the first 6 grades the boundaries were High Street and the alley between 12th and 13th Avenues until the end of the Columbus district, south to Fourth, west to High. For grades 7 and 8, the boundary was extended to the C.C.C.&St.L. Railroad. There was an Eleventh Avenue Elementary on Cleveland that served Linden and the eastern portion of the city.

Fifth Avenue School was at Highland and was built in 1886. It had 16 rooms and 491 students and 14 teachers. The principal, Annie Hull, lived at 404 West 8th Avenue. The students who attended came from the corner of Olentangy and King, east to the first alley of Neil and north to the first alley north of King, east to High, south to Third, west to Fourth Avenue and Harrison Avenue.

Indianola School on 16th was built in 1907. The cost was $76,808.31, and the site cost $10,000. Unlike the other schools, it was heated by mechanical furnaces not gravity furnaces. It had 27 rooms, 744 students and 25 teachers. The principal, C.H. Fullerton, lived at 88 East 11th Avenue, and later became Superintendent of Schools. Students who attended the Junior High were those who attended Medary, Northwood, or Eighth Avenue (if they lived north of Eighth Avenue, east of High Street, and north of Eleventh, west of High). Those in grades 1 through 6 were the students who lived from Woodruff to Tuller to Lane to the Railroad and down to Thirteenth Avenue.

Medary Avenue on Tompkins and Medary was built in 1892 and had sixteen rooms, 594 students and 14 teachers. The principal lived at Indian Springs which had a rural address in 1913. Students who attended Medary lived in the district bounded by Olentangy and High, east to Dayton Avenue, north to Manhattan Avenue, east to McGuffey Street, south to Maynard, west to Dayton. The building cost $45,300.00 and the city cost $1,800.00.

Ninth Avenue School was at the corner of Ninth and Worthington Street. Built in 1896, for a cost of $21,478.00 (and the site cost $11,275.00), it had ten rooms, 372 students, and 10 teachers. It served students from Eleventh to Olentangy, High to King, King to Neil, and down to the Olentangy.

Northwood School at High and Northwood was built in 1879 with an addition in 1905. It had 16 rooms, 564 students and 14 teachers. It served students from Blake and Olentangy River to High , Maynard to Indianola Avenue, down to Lane Avenue and crossed to Waldeck and Woodruff area.

The Open Air School opened by 1914 and was a joint project of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society and the Board of Education. Located on the Olentangy River at the present Neil Avenue School, the site was chosen to bring healthful clean air from the river into the lungs of children fighting the effects of TB. The plan of the school called for wide and open windows and doors, and classes which were conducted in the open-air, even in winter. The school was modeled after the Open Air Schools of Chicago. Unlike the Chicago Open Air School which only used heated soap stones for the children's feet in the winter, Neil School had heating.

In addition to the Columbus Public Schools, education in the University District has been enhanced by the current Tree of Life school on Indianola near Lane and was served, in the past, by Holy Name School which has since become a community center.

Learning Unlimited, which eventually branched to two other locations in the city, started its operations on Eighth Avenue in large, connected houses. The Peace School operated for many years at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church during the summer months.

One of the most well known schools in the University District, operated from the Ohio State University (now Ramseyer Hall), as the University School.