I've spent most of my life living or working in Doylestown. Still, sometimes I forget that the way I picture the town isn't the way it's always been.
I'm not just talking about hundreds of years ago, either. For example, try asking any local born before 1960 about the high school.
I don't mean Central Bucks West -- Up until 1973, there was a building in the center of Doylestown that most people thought of as the high school. It was gorgeous.
It looked like this:
Until 1952, when Central Bucks High School (later CB West) was constructed, the gorgeous building at Broad and E. Court streets was where Doylestown students went to school. Afterward the building served as a number of things, including the Administration Annex for the Bucks County Courthouse.
Then, in 1973, it burned down.
My friend Milt from the Doylestown Historical Society let me scan some photos from the demolition of the building after it was gutted by the fire. Click any of 'em for a larger view.
I went to this school when it was Doylestown Elementary. My mom had gone there as a high school.
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard it had burned, I was naturally saddened. Unfortunately, when you stuff an old shelaced wooden-floored building with old paper as it was when used as an annex to the courthouse (read paper warehouse a la tinderbox) it was not an unexpected end to this grand old lady. It would have been so much kinder to use it for offices and built a sprinkler-systemed pole barn somewhere for the papers.
Thinking of which, how many records went up in those flames...
This was where they bussed the students from New Hope-Solebury (and presumably all the other schools in the area) to be lined up to recieve their Salk Polio shots
ReplyDeleteFrom the time CB opened until 1960, when Linden opened, it was the only elementary school in town. From '60 until Doyle opened it was K-3. My dad graduated from the Boro School in the mid 30's. I think he told me that the football team played where Burpee Playground is now.
ReplyDeleteBack in 1962 my 6th grade teacher took me up to the top floor which was used to store items from the early days of Doylestown High School. There was stuffed animals that were used in the science classes. It reminded me of a museum of natural history. Also there was old desks , chairs , cabinets and charts for classes and instructions. The day it caught fire you could see the flames from Pooled corner which was 313 and 202 . It was a shame all those memories went up in smoke.
ReplyDelete