First Juneau school established in 1848
Reprinted from The Independent of Friday, May 10, 1946
It is recorded in the early history of the village of Victory – Juneau’s original name – that the first settlers took a keen interest in matters educational. They organized School District No. 7, town of Farrfield (now town of Oak Grove), and in April, 1848, laid plans for the erection of their first school building, and frame structure 24 x 28 feet, located on the north side of the public square – now the courthouse park.
Daniel Huntley and Jane Marsh were the first pedagogues to direct the training of Juneau’s young folks in the new school. For their services, they received $18 and $5 per month respectively.
Hiram Curtiss, Lester Noble, and Joel Rich were the first school trustees. George J. Rice was collector and F. Hall, clerk of the school board. Eighty-two children received instruction.
The cause of education never failed to receive generous consideration at the hands of residents of this city and vicinity. The first school house soon became too small for the accommodation of the pupils attending, and in 1856 a new and much larger structure was erected on South Main Street at a cost of $13,000.
This building proved to be inadequate in the early 1880's when it was replaced by a brick two story building, erected on the same site, across the street from the present school location.
In 1899, this structure furnished Juneauites with one of their most exciting evenings when it was struck by lightning and burst into flames. Scores of townspeople gathered to watch the mounting flames, which for a time threatened to raze the entire building. Firemen of Juneau Fire Dept. managed to subdue the blaze, but not until an estimated $6,000 worth of damage was wrought. According to the June 9, 1899, issue of The Independent, “this was the first fire of any importance since the establishment of the city waterworks, and fully and satisfactorily demonstrated the worth of the good waterworks system we have.”
This building, too, finally was strained by the demand for more room caused by increased enrollments. In mid-winter, early in 1936, it was vacated for the new $146,000 grade and high school building erected across the street on the old Veltum property. In the last few years of its existence, the old school could not contain all of the pupils, and the seventh and eighth grades were conducted on the second floor of the city hall.
The new school was dedicated formally at the Juneau Homecoming held in the late summer of 1937, when John Callahah, State Superintendent of Schools, was on hand to address a large crowd. Former principals D. E. Malone of West Bend and O. H. Bauer of Hartford also spoke.
The opening of the new high school with its spacious gym saw the final abandonment of the city park auditorium as the center of high school social and athletic life. Basketball games, class plays and proms and other dances have since been presented in the gymnasium, were spectators can observe with ease from conveniently placed seats in the gym proper and balcony.
School Superintendent Arthur Simpson took his position at Juneau just in time to witness the transition from the old to the new. He spent his first half year here in the old building, then moved with his students to the new structures, where he guided the first class of students to be graduated from the new high school. Mr. Simpson has been an unusually active and versatile superintendent, taking a keen interest in the athletic and social programs of his students, as well as supervising their educational training. He organized the first dancing class and the first chess club at the school and later was active in the development of the camera club, which has resulted in many interested students becoming considerably better than average photographers.
It is probable that the next development at the high school will be the installation of a new agriculture course when materials are available and when instructors can be obtained.
