The School That Ended Half Days

Mount Union's schools filled faster than the town could build them. In September 1915 enrollment reached 750, the first and second grade rooms went to half-day sessions, and the high school was overcrowded too.

In January 1916 the borough's voters approved a $33,000 school loan by a margin of 10 to 1. They feared that if it failed they would face a school tax of 25 mills.

The new building was supposed to be ready that September, but the builders said it would not be done until November. So the grade school and the high school shared the Grade Building in shifts, the grades from 8:30 to noon and the high school from 12:30 to 4:30.

On November 28, 1916, between 900 and 1,000 children went back to full days when the new $50,000 high school opened and the junior and senior high schools moved in. It held nine classrooms, an auditorium and gymnasium, a library, a reading room, a manual training room, a physical and chemical laboratory and an office.

The building was dedicated early in February 1917, with men from the State Educational Department giving the principal addresses. The town's Grand Army veterans presented a flag. C. V. Hackman gave a rousing talk and impressed on the audience that all school teachers were underpaid.

Checked 2026-10-31 · County histories and primary sources, read in full

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