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CITYSCAPES

Price of education too steep for some

By KEVIN LEININGER
from the archives of The News-Sentinel

The Fort Wayne public schools system will celebrate its 130th birthday next year, but the thriftiness of some city residents in 1853 almost closed down the schools before they even opened.

The true origin of the city's public schools can be traced back even further. In 1848, Fort Wayne residents voted 1,293 to 440 in support of a state law authorizing establishment of ``free'' public schools. But in 1853, the voters refused to put their money where their ballots were. That year, the city council tried to raise $1,200 for school use through taxation, and there was such a public outcry that the school trustees resigned.

Luckily, most of the public quickly realized the need for a city school system, and a steamrolling school movement soon crushed most of the opposition.

After holding school for four years in private homes, the Fort Wayne public schools system moved into two new buildings in 1857. The city's first public school building was the Clay School, which opened early that year at Clay and Washington. Late in 1857, the Jefferson School opened at Jefferson and Fairfield at a cost of $5,000.

Construction of the two new schools was not without controversy, however. The city council in 1857 passed a resolution stating anyone opposing the free schools was ``productive of evil.'' Some people weren't deterred, though, and secured a court injunction preventing the city treasurer from paying school trustees. So uncertain was the school issue that contractors were reluctant to bid on construction of the two schools, fearing they might not be paid once work had begun.

By 1866, however, the school system had outgrown the two schools. The system had an enrollment of 1,245 but seating for only 634 students. Superintendent James Smart, in fact, noted in a report that children were forced to stand and sit in turns because of the lack of classroom space. Hoagland School opened later in 1866, and was followed in 1868 by the city's first high school. Fort Wayne High School was on East Wayne Street at the site now occupied by Murphy's department store. The high school building was used as an administration building after the opening of Central High School in 1903. It was torn down in the 1920s.

--April 3, 1982