January | 2021 | Historic Stevens Point

It had been proposed to build the new high school unit on Normal Avenue, but in the end it was decided that the new building would be built on the same property as the old high school and used in conjunction with the original building. The city allocated $150,000, about $2,325,000 today, to building the new facility next to the existing high school with the intention to alleviate overcrowding. Bids for construction opened in April 1922.

Designed by Milwaukee architects Robert Messmer and Brother, the new high school unit was to be built on the East Avenue side of the property. The modern building would include a large gymnasium and spacious auditorium that could seat up to 1,500. Ironically, much like its predecessor, completion of the building was held up in when a train carload of bricks was lost in transit forcing the school board to abandon hope of having the building ready for spring semester. But as completion neared in June of 1923, the first event was held in the new auditorium, a popular operetta of the time, “In Old Louisiana.”

The Annex Building circa 1923, Author’s personal collection

The new unit, colloquially referred to as “The Annex,” connected to the old building through a short corridor. During construction the temporary building was moved to the Reserve Street side of the property and connected to the original school through a longer corridor. Sources mention the barracks being used as a construction office, but newspaper accounts explain it was brought in as additional classroom space before construction began. All three buildings together were referred to as Emerson School.

Overcrowding in the school continued as Stevens Point’s population swelled. Almost eight hundred students attended the city’s high school in 1929. Quite a bit more than the 277 when the original facility had opened in 1893. With WPA funding, PJ Jacobs High School opened its doors to students in 1938. After construction, it was decided that the new building would be used as a four-year school, instead of the three-year school as originally intended. Lockers had to be moved from the Emerson building to the basement of PJ Jacobs to accommodate the freshmen moving to the new school along with the rest of the upper classes.

The auditorium in the new Annex building packed with students, circa 1936, a few short years before PJ Jacobs was built. A similar photo, angled to the right, shows students overflowing and filling the aisle all the way down to the front and more students peaking through stuffing hallway windows.

That fall, the Emerson Annex began to be used solely as a junior high for seventh and eighth grades housing up to about 250 students. Following earlier plans, about 100 students from the vocational school moved into the original 1893 structure. Equipment was moved from the downtown location and a welding unit was set up in the basement. At some point, the city’s special education classes began to be held on the third floor. Technical education classes for high school students remained on the property as well. The barracks building was used for printing and metal sheeting classes.

All three buildings circa 1925, Photo Source Terry Kawles (PCHS/UWSP Archives, not confirmed)

Safety concerns were brought up the winter of 1953. A group of concerned citizens criticized the outdated original building and the aging temporary barracks. Complaints were made about the restroom facilities, open wiring on wood walls, crumbling brick, dangerous fire escapes, and the leaking roof. The interior of the building was wood and the exterior brick with few fire-safety precautions. One of the biggest hazards mentioned regarded the welding department in the basement with the third floor being used for the special education department. The group lamented that the situation was a disaster waiting to happen. Reminders of previous school fires were mentioned.

Discussions began in relation to moving the vocational school, tearing down the old buildings, and leaving the Annex to be used as a junior high. Talks went on for years of how to handle the vocational school situation. During this time the original school structure and barracks remained in use. Eventually it was decided to build a new vocational school. When it was completed, the brick 1893 building and the 40-year-old temporary structure would be demolished.

Read Part 1 here / Read Part 2 here / Read Part 3 here / Read Part 4 here

This piece also appeared in the Stevens Point City Times / Portage County Gazette January 13, 2021

The new high school would be built down the road and a new grammar school on the site of the burned-out school…

Stevens Point High School Senior Class 1910, The Nooz Commencement Booklet

Most often referred to as the Stevens Point High School, an 1897 article explains the building was named for transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson. In 1901 it was reported that the seniors were wearing lapel pins with a fleur de lis and the initials EHS. A few years later the boys’ football and basketball teams were given 10-inch crimson and black circle emblems with the letters EHS to sew on their sweaters. Still the school was called the Stevens Point High School by most. There was later discussion regarding whether to put the name Emerson High School on the new diplomas that needed to be ordered for the graduating class of 1912. It likely did not happen, however, because it wasn’t until 1929 that the name Emerson High School officially appeared on the yearbooks.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image.png — 1912 Stevens Point High School “The Nooz”

Front page of the 1929 Emerson High School Tattler

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is img_1548.jpg — Photo Credit: Portage County Historical Society and UWSP Archives

The red brick building suited Stevens Point for about two decades though it was lacking from the start. The third-floor gymnasium was small and quickly consumed by classrooms. Basketball games were played at Parish Hall or the Normal School. The old school also lacked proper restroom facilities for the ever-growing student body. With the toilets located in the basement and then just one on the third floor, the school needed modernization. But what the city really needed was a new facility. Talks began in the fall of 1919 regarding what to do about a new high school building as enrollment reached 370, up 55 students from the previous year.

Machine Shop in basement of the Stevens Point High School, The Nooz SPHS 1914

As discussions for a new high school building began, plans were in works to move the vocational school from its downtown location on the second floor of the old Worzalla Publishing building to the original high school building. With the new unit housing the majority of the high school students, the old 1893 building would mostly be used for “home economics, manual training, and science work,” leaving plenty of room for vocational school use. There was question if there would be room enough for the girls’ vocational classes, but it was decided the issue would be resolved if needed by using the commercial department’s off campus Main Street facility if needed. The vocational school remained downtown until 1938.

Commercial Building, 1922 Stevens Point High School Tattler

The Worzalla Publishing building circa 1912, courtesy of Worzalla Publishing

Barracks Building, 1930 Stevens Point High School Tattler

Students complained about crowded classrooms and folding chairs stacked in the halls of the main building. Congestion in the building was so significant that a temporary structure was built behind the main building on the Ellis Street side. The original “barracks” structure was used for the first time in October of 1921, adding four classrooms for the growing student body. That same month the common council voted unanimously to build a new high school. However, the “temporary” building would remain in use for another 40 years.