A History of School Buildings in Northfield

              A HISTORY OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN NORTHFIELD
Since 1857, children in Northfield have been waking up early each morning to go to
school. The first school building in Rice County, Drake School" was built in 1856, just three miles
south of Northfield ( Curtiss- Wedge, 620). This, although not far now, was much too far for city
_ kids to travel to school, so it was only a rural school. The first school inside of Northfield was built
by John North himself in 1857. It was built on the site where the Middle School now exists
( Garwood- Delong). The first school teachers were primarily men. As industry rose, the men
followed it, leaving women to teach the children ( Curtiss- Wedge, 620).
In 1861, the second Northfield school building was built at a cost of $ 6,000 ( Curtiss­Wedge,
624). No mention is made of the name of this school, but it is known that it stood where
the Congregational Church now stands. After this new building was built, the older building
across the street was torn down ( Garwood- Delong). The school soon became overcrowded, and
plans for another building were made. This building was purchased by St. Olaf College, which
they moved onto their campus to become their first building in ~ orthfield ( Curtiss- Wedge, 624).
In 1874, Northfielders built their third school next to Central Park. The new school cost
$ 30,000. It was named Central School, and it housed grades K - 12. High schools were rare in
the late 1800s, and those that did exist usually had few students. However, Northfield did very
well with its number of high school students. Central School stood three stories high and was
very enviable ( Curtiss- Wedge, 624). It was made with pressed brick, holding nine primary rooms,
a large high school room, and two recitation rooms. This was the only primary school for students
east of the Cannon River until about 1893 ( NN, 8 Feb. 1890).
In 1886, a primary school was erected west of the Cannon River. Made with pressed
brick, West Side School contained four rooms ( NN, 8 Feb. 1890). Information has not been
found that tells when this building was demolished or of its exact location.
Around the same time, the old longfellow School was built ( Heibel). There is much
question of when it was built, and it may be possible that longfellow was another name for West
Side SchoOl ( Fox). longfellow, too, was covered with brick. For a short while, it co- existed with
the new longfellow building, but it was demolished sometime after the 1958 bond issue ( School
Bond Issue Gets...).
In 1893, Washington School was built. It was for primary grades and was for students
from the second ward, once again made with pressed brick ( Heibel). The building was destroyed
circa 1993 and stood where City Hall now stands ( Garwood- Delong).
On Wednesday, 29 April 1908, Central School caught on fire. The alarm was sounded at
about 9: 30pm by several Senior High boys who were returning home from a play rehearsal.
Northfield citizens had been hoping for a disaster like this to come to the school, since it had
become much too crowded and they had been hoping for a bigger building. However, the school
was not destroyed, but had mostly smoke and water damage. Students had to finish the school
year in the damaged building ( Another Milestone - The Fire). ( It is not known where the students
were taught during 1909.)
In 1910, the community raised funds for the rebuilding of Central School ( Garwood­Delong).
The new building, built upon the same site as the damaged building, cost $ 110,000.
The new Central School was to be semi- fireproof, roomier, very modern, steam- heated,
ventilated by fans, and equipped with space for domestic education for girls, and industrial arts
for the boys ( Curtiss- Wedge, 624).
The new Central School had many additions over time. The 1937 addition cost
$ 158,000. That was a lot of money, but it included an auditorium, a gymnasium, five classrooms,
home economics rooms, music rooms, and girls and boys showerllocker rooms ( NN, 28 Aug.
1941). The 1954 addition addled on a new wing to the school. This wing included several
classrooms and a cafeteria ( Fox). In 1958, a bond issue was proposed for a third story addition­on
to the 1954 addition, along with an industrial arts wing on the south side ( New School). The
bond issue was never passed ( School Bond Issue Fails in Election), and Central School, now
Northfield Middle School, stands the same as it did after the 1954 addition.
In the summer of 1949, the construction of another longfellow building was started. The
new building was supposed to be completed within 320 days after 17 June 1949 ( School Bond