Hyde Park High School
now the Ray School

Kimbark Ave. and 56th St.
Chicago

1909

Skinner School

Aberdeen St. and Jackson Blvd.

1916

Harrison High School now Saucedo Magnet

2850 Twenty-fourth St. Blvd.

1916

Carter School

58th St. and Michigan Ave.

1916

Schurz High School

Milwaukee Rd. and Addison St.

1926

Brown
School

Warren Ave. and Wood Street

1916

NOTES ON HISTORY OF CHICAGO SCHOOL BUILDINGS

By Gordon S. LeFevre

The erection of the Newberry School in 1858 set a pattern for four story buildings in the school system which was repeated in the construction of the Skinner School in 1859, the Haven in 1862, the Wells in 1865 and the Carpenter in 1868. Three of these buildings are still in use in the school system. All were heated by steam and as a consequence the word "engineer," in reporting on the operation of these properties, found its way into the vocabulary of the school system.

The devastating fire beginning on the night of October 8, 1871, played havoc with school properties. Only one inch of rain had fallen in Chicago during the ninety days preceding this date and in the 45 days leading to October 8th, thirty fires had broken out, The two largest of which destroyed the Burlington Warehouse at 16th and State Street on September 30th, and on October 7th a fire at Canal and Jackson which destroyed about four blocks of property with a loss of $750,000. Chicago of that date was constructed almost entirely of wood and this combined with a high wind from the southwest turned the entire vicinity into a giant bonfire once fire started. Then too, Saturday, October 7th was payday for the members of the Fire Department, most of whom were somewhat exhausted due to the strenuous efforts in the fires the day before, and as was customary in the Fire Department of that early day history records the firemen were celebrating their victories.

The great fire which is alleged to have started in Mrs. O'Leary's cow shed was swept by the wind through the city in a northwesterly direction and even crossed north over the river to Fullerton Avenue before it finally burned itself out, During the course of its record blaze 17,450 buildings were lost, 300 people had died in the fire and 2,154 acres were completely denuded leaving 90,000 people homeless; property loss was estimated at 200 million dollars. Nearly all of the records of the school system were destroyed in the fire and all historical documents and relics in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society, established in 1856, were also consumed, as were abstracts of title to much real estate. When Superintendent Pickard appeared at the Board offices after the fire had died out, only one safe was found in the offices and this contained only badly charred records. The following school buildings were destroyed in this fire: Jones and its branch; Kinzie and its branch; Franklin and its branch; Ogden, Pierson Street Primary, Elm St. Primary (now known as the Sheldon,) the LaSalle Street Primary, the North Branch Primary (now known as the Schiller). The School Board also had school sessions in five rented quarters; as a result of the fire losses 10,000 pupils and 135 teachers were temporarily without school accommodations.

This article was included in the December 1946 issue of "Scotty-Grams" published by John Howatt, Chief Engineer Of the Chicago Board of Education