Where We Started

Early Lorain City Schools

Early Beginnings

In its early beginnings, Lorain Schools only had just a few schools with a small number of students. It was private subscription classes rather than a public school district taught by David Smith. In 1827 John Reid, the father of the first mayor of Lorain, Conrad Reid, found an unused cabin to use as the first school. Shortly after the first school board was elected creating The Black River Union School District. The sister of David, Lucia, was also hired to teach. The Village of Black River changed to Charleston, and in 1874 Charleston became the city of Lorain. A few years later with large growth in the city, the Lorain City Schools district was formed. Check out some of our early Lorain Schools below.

First Public School

In 1827 the first public school in Lorain was built on the corner of 4th St. and Washington Ave. This small school consisted of one room and was a $200 construction project. This location is currently the Lorain Tax Department.

Union School

On the corner of 6th St. and Washington Ave. sat Union School, a 4 room building built-in 1870. This building hosted both high school and elementary school grades because schools were divided into the categories primary, grammar, and high school. The first graduating class of Union School was in 1879, graduating with 2 boys and 1 girl, Abbie Reid, who was the daughter of the first Lorain Mayor. The school was demolished in 1913 to allow room for Lorain High School.

Bank Street School (Charleston)

Bank Street School street shot with trees

Bank Street (now Sixth Street) and Hamilton Ave. housed what was originally Bank Street School. The name was changed to Charleston to honor the city's original name. In 1924 the tornado destroyed Charleston and parts were salvaged to be used in the Board of Education's building.

Garden Avenue School

garden avenue building with snow on the ground

Garden Avenue School was open from 1890-1938 located between 19th and 20th St. The original design had 6 classrooms and a basement room, in 1893 4 rooms were added, and again in 1895.

Lowell Elementary School

the second lowell elementary building sign

The first Lowell Elementary was built in 1896 on East 31st Street. Lowell was originally named the 13th Avenue School but in 1909 13th St. became 31st. St. and the school name was changed in honor of James Russell Lowell. Before renovations, the building consisted of 2 floors each with 6 rooms, the principal's office, and the teacher's dining room was a part of that design. The building was closed in 1961 and a new Lowell was opened on Clinton Avenue between East 32nd and 33rd St.

Fairhome School

The first Fairhome School in 1901 was located on Idaho Avenue with 2 floors, 10 classrooms, a medical room, and a principal's office. The building faced both a serious fire in 1920 and damage from a tornado in 1924. In 1952 construction of the new Fairhome school began and the original building was used to house Larkmoor school students, and later Charleston Elementary students. Fairhome was closed in 1995 but used for other programs until it closed again in 2007.

Bond Street School (Garfield)

first Garfield elementary building in black and white

January 5, 1903, Bond Street School opened, in July of that year the board explored possibilities of adding electricity in the building. In 1909 street names were changed and Bond Street became West 30th St., the school was then renamed Garfield to honor President James Garfield. Garfield was the pioneer of Lorain's first PTA and houses 1,300 students. In 1995 Garfield was closed and eas the first school demolished in the district's renovation project. In 2005 the newest Garfield elementary opened and the bell from the original building was placed in its courtyard.

Brownell School

In 1904 Brownell School was built between Brownell Avenue and 10th Street. The 2-floor building housed 8 classrooms and a basement, and in 1924 an additional building was built to add 2 more rooms. The building also hosted the LCCC technical school and vocational education staff offices. Later after closing the property was used for Lorain High and Irving Junior School athletics.

Harrison School

Harrison was built in 1904 located on Hamilton Avenue. In 1970 the building closed as a school and was used by the Head Start Program. The building is now a community center offering programs and other activities for Lorain. The Harrison is the oldest standing school building in Lorain.

Lincoln School

Opening on the Southside of Lorain Lincoln School opened in 1904 on the corner of East 31st Street and Vine Avenue. In 1967 Lincoln was replaced with a new building across the street. In 2005 Lincoln was closed and became a community center but was soon demolished in 2008.

Oakwood School

Oakwood opened in 1905, it was the last elementary school to be opened in Lorain until 1938. This school sat across Oakwood Park and sat at Grove Avenue and East 31st Street. In 1971 the building was closed and demolished, Lorain Firehouse #3 now occupies the site.

Lorain High School

By 1910 Union School was not large enough to accommodate the number of students, leading to the building of the original Lorain High School done by architect Hamilton E. Ford. This building had many renovations during its time, first from 1911-1913 was the construction of the south section of the school. The building was officially opened in 1916. The gym of this building was built underground under the auditorium but in 1931 it was closed and a new gym was built. The special hallway known as the "Yellow Brick Road" housed the hallway that lead to the cafeteria which was built under the gym and contained remains of the original gym. This high school is one of the most storied buildings in Lorain City Schools history. In 1939 the arts building was built and because of the Great Depression taking place during the construction 50% of the funds came from the Public Works Administration and Works Progress Administration.

In the 1960s a new gym was built, in 1971 a new cafeteria was added, a parking lot and tennis courts were also added. The growing population demanded the creation of 2 new high schools. The original Lorain High was closed in 1995.