Central High School in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

was open from 1854 until 1969. The student newspaper was ''The Madison Mirror'' and the yearbook was ''Tychoberahn''. The school nickname was the Tigers, the colors black and orange and moved in 1908 to the site where it would stay until it closed.

History

Madison Central High School was Dane County's oldest school, having begun in 1853 in the basement of a Methodist church with one teacher and 90 students. The school was first known as Madison High School but over the years became Madison Central High School (1922) and in 1965, Central-University High School when intern teachers from the University of Wisconsin became part of the teaching staff. The school was designed by

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and ...

and torn down in 1986 to make room for a MATC parking lot.

Notable Central High School Alumni

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...

(attended 1902–1903) – Artist *

Margaret H'Doubler Margaret Newell H'Doubler (April 26, 1889, Beloit, Kansas – March 26, 1982, Springfield, Missouri) was a dance instructor who created the first dance major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin. Her dance pedagogy was a ...

(1906) – Credited with establishing, in 1926, the first dance education program at a U.S. university (at the University of Wisconsin) * Timothy Brown (1907) – Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice from 1949 to 1964 (Chief Justice 1962–1964) * Alfred Buser (1907) – Captain of the undefeated 1912 University of Wisconsin football team * John Hasbrouk van Vleck (1913) – Nobel Prize-winner in Physics * Wayne Lyman Morse (1919) – U.S. Senator from Oregon 1944-1969 *Walter Frautschi (1920) – Madison businessman and philanthropist; father of John J. and W. Jerome “Jerry” Frautschi *

John Bardeen John Bardeen (; May 23, 1908 – January 30, 1991) was an American physicist and engineer. He is the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the tran ...

(Class of 1923) – Only person to win the Nobel Prize for Physics twice *Edward Withers (1947) – All American defensive football player at the University of Wisconsin *Tracy Nelson (1963) – Blues and country singer *

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

References

External links

Central High should be closed -- State Journal editorial from 50 years ago
Defunct high schools in Wisconsin High schools in Madison, Wisconsin Demolished buildings and structures in Wisconsin Buildings and structures demolished in 1986 {{Wisconsin-school-stub