Lusk High School History (2)
Old High School to Be Used As Grade Building
The Lusk Herald, January 23,1930
With the removal of the Hi School plant to the new building, the old school building will be used for all the grades, and will be adequate, perhaps, for many years to come. Two of the grades are now housed in a dwelling which the Board purchased when the present building became overcrowded. These grades will now be moved to the main building, and the residence sold.
The old High School building was erected in 1910, and has served the district for almost twenty years.
A brief history of the first modern school building in District No. 1 may prove interesting.
The School Board in 1910 was supposed of Edw. M. Arnold, chairman; P. E. Barber, clerk, and J.L. Hall, treasurer.
At a mass meeting held on Saturday, February 5, 1910, the Board laid before the citizens the necessity for a new school building. After discussing the matter for some time, the mass meeting voted unanimously in favor of the Board issuing bonds and proceeding as soon as possible with the erection of a new school.
Lusk at that time was in Converse county. The assessed valuation of district No. 1 was $1,171,260. 70. By bonding the district to the limit allowed by law the sum of $23,425.00 could be raised.
At a meeting of the Board it was decided to submit to the people the question of bonding the district in the sum of $23,000.00. The bonds were to be of the denomination of $1,000.00 and to be payable in 25 years.
According to the account printed in The Herald at that time, “the election passed off quietly,” and the bond issue carried by a vote of 60 for and only 7 against. The small vote is accounted for by the fact that only property owners could vote, and only those who had their tax receipts for 1909 in their possession were allowed to participate in the election.
Bids were advertised for the construction, to be opened on may 31, 1910, and upon opening of the sealed bids it was found that Ed A. Reivelle of Douglas was considered by the board to be the lowest and best bidder and the contract was awarded to him for the general construction.
Actual work on the building was started about the middle of May.
The cornerstone of the building was laid with appropriate ceremonies on August 18, 1910. The Lusk Herald presented the School Board with a tin box, which was placed in a cavity in the cornerstone.
The box contained the school record, with the names of the trustees; date of cornerstone laying, last financial statement of the Bank of Lusk, clipping from The Lusk Herald giving an account of the graduating exercises on May 13, 1910; a picture of Prof. E.E. Miller. Business stationery of the following firms was also placed in the box: Merlin D. Barnes, Lusk Pharmacy, the Northwestern Hotel, Henry Giinther, Porter & Thomas, D.E. Goddard, Dr. F.L. Rose, Dr. C.A. Maghy, Boyd Brothers, E.E. Lavailleur, Robert C. Ord, Lusk Land Co., Lorenzen & Hall, Ed. A. Reivelle, contractor for the building; W.H. Lloyd & Son, stonemasons for the building; H.C. Snyder & Co., and a copy of The Lusk Herald of August 11, 1910.
Only the main floor and the present eighth grade room, which was then the High School auditorium, was completed at that time. There were two grades in each room. Only a two-year course was offered at that time. Later the remaining part of the High School building was completed. The attendance had become large enough to require one grade to a room. The sixth and seventh grades moved upstairs. Later the attendance of the High School was so large that the partition separating the High School auditorium from the eighth-grade room was removed.
In 1913 courses in commercial studies were introduced. In 1914 Lusk High was made a four-year accredited High School, under the superintendency of Mr. Roland. Basketball was introduced in Lusk High in 1916 and vocational agriculture in 1926.
The old High School is a well-built structure and will stand for many years. It had stood for twenty years and not even the slightest crack has appeared in any of the walls, and its condition today is a monument to the contractor, Mr. Reivelle, as well as the members of the School Board, Messrs. Arnold Barber and Hall, who saw that only the best material and workmanship went into the building.