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School Administration Building.
S11.118
Purchase of School Administration
Building. |
History
of the Niles City Schools Administration Buildings.
This building was originally the office
of the Thomas Furnace Company. It was erected in 1892 by the late
J.R. Thomas. The Thomas Furnace Company was composed of
J.R. Thomas and his sons, John M. Thomas, T.E. Thomas,
and the Honorable W. Aubrey Thomas, former member of Congress.
This company was engaged in the manufacture
of pig iron and continued until 1899 when they sold out to the National
Steel Corporation which was later absorbed by United Steel Corporation.
The building and site was then purchased by the
Erie Railroad. The 1.5 acre lot and building later were sold to
the Niles City Schools in 1930 for $3500.00.
The Erie RR had been offered more by a person
who wanted to build a fruit stand in the building, but appealing
to their civic spirit they were persuaded to sell the building
for a school administration building and the grounds to be a civic
beauty spot.
The chemical laboratory building was moved and
made an annex to the Erie building.
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The old Jackson School on Warren Avenue
became the next Administration Building in 1967-8 replacing the
previous Administration Building on Church Street.
(The old Jackson School Building is
still standing, see photo above).
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P01.1914 |
S03.77
The old Administration Building burned
down when juveniles set fire to it on January 29, 1972 (see photos
left, below, and above). |
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S02.74 |
S03.76 |
S03.75 |
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Four
views of Administration location, 2020
The site is now only trees and the
pavement is remnants of the old Church Street entrance to Robbins
Avenue (see photos on right).
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The area where the Administration Building(1930-1967)
was located underwent major changes during the construction of
the Erie RR grade elimination in 1953.
Church Street no longer connected with Robbins
Avenue and State Street continued north until intersecting with
the new extension of Robbins Avenue which now connected with North
Main Street.
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Location of Administration Building,
1930-1970.
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In
the ‘90s, the offices were moved to the building on West Street
by the Mosquito Creek (below Macali’s Giant Eagle) which had
been the offices for the Bucci Brothers, and in 1976 it was the
Ohio Compensation Claims building which handled all Blue Cross payments
for the unions there. |
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When
Niles voters approved a bond issue to finance a new high school
and two new elementary schools in 2011, the School Board purchased
the Mount Carmel School building and land on North Rhodes Avenue
for the Niles City Schools Administration Facilities. |
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