In 1924, the
city of Little Rock had one high school for white students
and one for black students. The school for white students
was considerably overcrowded. The city's business and
civic leaders saw a need for a much larger facility to
handle future enrollment needs. As a result, Little Rock
Central High School was built.
Designed as a
mix of Art Deco and Collegiate Gothic architecture, the
school evoked images of higher seats of learning in Europe
- such as Oxford University - or in the United States
(Princeton). It was designed to inspire respect for
learning. When completed, the American Institute of
Architects called it "America's Most Beautiful High
School."
Opened in 1927,
the school was dedicated as Little Rock Senior High
School. It was an imposing structure spanning two city
blocks and over 150,000 square feet of floor space. Over
360 million pounds of concrete and 370 tons of steel went
into its construction. The school cost $15 million to
construct in 1927 and received a great deal of publicity
when it opened. An article in the local newspaper, the
Arkansas Gazette, noted that there were "hundreds
of journalists in our fair city for the dedication."
Little Rock
Central High School has its origins in 1869 when Sherman
High School opened in a wooden structure at 8th and
Sherman Streets in Little Rock. Students first graduated
in 1875. In 1885, the school moved to 14th and Scott
Streets and was renamed the Scott Street School but was
generally called the "City High School." In 1890,
the school moved once more to West Capitol and Gaines
Streets and was renamed the Peabody High School in honor
of George Peabody. Peabody had donated money to southern
schools after the Civil War in order to rebuild fractured
educational systems. Little Rock received nearly $200,000
of the money from Peabody - the largest sum given to any
southern city. In 1905, Peabody High School was abandoned
and a new high school, Little Rock Senior High, opened at
14th and Scott Streets. The school remained in that
location until 1927 when it moved to its current location
anchoring the corner of 14th and Park Streets.
New features of
the school in 1927 included 100 classrooms, a fireproof
auditorium that seated 2,000 and a 60 x 160 ft. stage that
doubled as the gymnasium, and a greenhouse. In 1935, a
football stadium was constructed directly behind the
school by the depression-era Works Progress Administration
(WPA) and named "Quigley Field" after Little Rock football
coach, Earl Quigley (1914-1935). The new football stadium
was the largest in the state of Arkansas, an
"ultra-modern" facility that even hosted University of
Arkansas football games until War Memorial Stadium was
constructed in 1948.
When the school
was dedicated in 1927, Little Rock School Board Member,
Lillian McDermott, noted that the new building - which
would house over 1,800 students - was "a public school
were Ambition is fired, where personality is
developed, where Opportunity is presented, and where
Preparation in the solution of life's problems is begun."
In 1951, a field
house was added to the school campus, eliminating the use
of the stage as a gymnasium. In 1953, the name of the
school was officially changed to Little Rock Central High
School to discern the school from a second high school for
white students being built in the Pulaski Heights area -
Hall High School.
|