Woodward Career Technical High School is a

public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

located in the Bond Hill neighborhood of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, United States. It is part of the Cincinnati Public School District. It was founded as one of the first public schools in the United States in 1831.

History

Old Woodward Building

Woodward was one of the first public schools in the country. The land for the original school was donated by William Woodward and his wife Abigail Cutter in 1826 to provide free education for poor children who could not afford private schooling. Their remains are buried on school grounds in the Over-the-Rhine area of Cincinnati (and it is a fixture of student lore that Abigail's ghost haunts the building). The Woodward Free Grammar School opened on the site in 1831 and was the first free public school in the city. The original two-story school building was replaced in 1855. On the day after his election, President Elect

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

, who graduated from Woodward High School in 1874, laid the cornerstone of a third building, which opened to students in 1910 (). The site is also linked to the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. William Woodward built a home on the site in 1832, where

Levi Coffin Levi Coffin (October 28, 1798 – September 16, 1877) was an American Quaker, Republican, abolitionist, farmer, businessman and humanitarian. An active leader of the Underground Railroad in Indiana and Ohio, some unofficially called Coffin the " ...

and his wife, Catharine, lived from 1856 to 1863. Coffin (known as "The President of the Underground Railroad"), sheltered over one hundred fugitive slaves each year on their way to freedom in Canada. The home was first occupied by Henry Rucher, an early principal and math teacher at the Woodward school, and it was commonly known as the Rucher House. It later served as the

Good Samaritan Hospital Good Samaritan Hospital or Good Samaritan Medical Center may refer to: India *Good Samaritan Hospital (Panamattom), Koprakalam, Panamattom, Kerala *Good Samaritan Centre, Mutholath Nagar, Cherpunkal, Kottyam, Kerala United States *Banner - Univer ...

(still in operation at its later Clifton Heights location). In 1865 it became St. Luke's Hospital, where disabled Civil War soldiers were treated. It was replaced by residential homes in 1874, which were demolished to clear ground for the new Woodward school building in 1907. The brick, stone, and terra cotta building, designed by Gustav Drach, had some of the most modern facilities of its day, including flush toilets, central heating, and two swimming pools. It is notable for its many Rookwood Pottery drinking fountains and tile fixtures, many of them gifts from student clubs and graduating classes in the early 1900s. Also notable are the stained glass windows of the same period in the main entryway, the largest of which is a memorial mural of "The Landing of William Woodward at Cincinnati in Fall of 1791", which was part of the 1855 construction and was preserved after that building was destroyed. The current five-story building has 150 rooms and of space, a third of which is unusable (including the swimming pools on the top floor). The building is listed in the Over-the-Rhine (South) Local

Historic District A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

and the Over-the-Rhine National Register Historic District.

Bond Hill

In 1953 Woodward High School moved to a new location in Bond Hill, and the older building was designated Abigail Cutter Junior High School until the

School for Creative and Performing Arts The School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) is a magnet arts school in Cincinnati in the US state of Ohio, and part of the Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS). SCPA was founded in 1973 as one of the first magnet schools in Cincinnati and becam ...

took over the entire facility in 1977. Woodward High School has since moved four times, in addition to opening a secondary campus near its current location on Reading Road. Woodward High School won the

Ohio High School Athletic Association The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is the governing body of athletic programs for junior and senior high schools in the state of Ohio. The OHSAA governs eligibility of student athletes, resolves disputes, organizes levels of compe ...

State Championships for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

in 1931 and 1945 and for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

in 1988. In August 2006, the City of Cincinnati opened Woodward Career Technical High School, which features a mixture of

college-preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to state school, public, Independent school, private independent or parochial school, parochial schools primaril ...

and

vocational A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. People can be given information about a new occupation through student orientation. Though now often used in non-religious co ...

education. With the new addition, the original campus was now called Woodward Traditional High School. In June 2011, demolition of the "Woodward Traditional High School" building was begun and the original 1953 Woodward High School building has now been completely demolished. A synthetic turf football field, baseball field, and fieldhouse will be built in place on the 1953 building.

Notable people

References

External links

* Old Woodward : a memorial relating to Woodward High School, 1831–1836, and Woodward College, 1836–1851, in the city of Cincinnati
Woodward Career Technical High School
{{authority control 1831 establishments in Ohio High schools in Hamilton County, Ohio Cincinnati Public Schools Public high schools in Ohio Educational institutions established in 1831 Rookwood Pottery Company