Indianola Junior High School
Indianola Junior High School is a historic school building located on 19th Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. It opened in 1929 after the school moved out of a previous building on 16th Avenue.[2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.[1]
Indianola Junior High School | |
 Entrance to Indianola Junior High School | |
Interactive map highlighting the building's location | |
| Location | 420 E. 19th Ave., Columbus, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40.0038°N 82.9971°W |
| Built | 1929 |
| Architect | Howard Dwight Smith |
| NRHP reference No. | 80003000[1] |
| CRHP No. | CR-27 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 30, 1980 |
| Designated CRHP | May 14, 1984 |
Organization and history
In the early 1900s, there was support for marking more of a transition from elementary to secondary education. The Indianola school was the first school to be designed as a separate junior high school. The school was organized in 1909 by the Board of Education of Columbus, Ohio, and Superintendent J.A. Shawan.[3]
The first principal of Indianola Junior High School was C. H. Fullerton, and the school included students from the Medary, Northwood, and Eight Avenue Schools.[3]
The building was designed by Ohio State University architect Howard Dwight Smith who also designed Ohio Stadium. Dr. Erwin Frey, who also sculpted the statue of Dr. William Oxley Thompson which stands outside Ohio State University's Thompson Library, was responsible for the sculpture on the building.[4]
In recognition of Columbus, Ohio,'s role in the early junior high school movement (and the Indianola school's in particular), a tablet was incorporated into the structure of the Indianola Junior High School building which reads:
Primus
Indianola
Junior High School
organized in September 1909 at Six-
teenth and Indianola Avenues
First of its
kind in these United States
was reorganized in this building
September 1929.[3]
In 2018, Ohio State University purchased the property for $2.35 million.[5]
References
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- Tebben, Gerald (September 7, 2012). "Columbus Mileposts | Sept. 7, 1909: Indianola Junior High first of its kind in U.S." The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
- Bunker, Frank Forest (1935). The Junior High School Movement - Its Beginnings. Washington, DC: W.F. Roberts Company.
- Owen, Lorrie (ed.). Ohio Historic Places Dictionary, Volume 2. St. Clair Shores, Michigan: Somerset Publishers, Inc. ISBN 9781878592705.
- https://www.dispatch.com/news/20180417/after-delay-columbus-school-board-sells-indianola-building-to-ohio-state
