One hundred years ago this week Hillsdale celebrated the graduation of 18 eighth-graders from the public school. Neither the school itself nor the graduation ceremony venue stand today. Here’s a look at these landmarks that once figured so prominently in local life.
The commencement program, whose cover is pictured at left, tells of a two-part program that featured recitations, orchestral pieces, piano and vocal performances, a speech from valedictorian Frances Hall, and religious invocations. After Board of Education President George Strohsahl handed out the 18 diplomas, the students and audience joined in singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The kids were completing their studies at the Hillsdale Grammar School (bottom left) at the corner of Hillsdale and Magnolia avenues. This eight-room school housed all grades from kindergarten through eight. In 1919 there were nine teachers. Two years after this, in 1921, a larger grammar school (later named for George G. White) was constructed next door. The older school continued to house grades seven and eight for a few years before it was torn down.
The graduation ceremony took place nearby at Hillsdale’s firehouse on Central Avenue (bottom right). Built in 1906, in 1927 the borough purchased the site and it served as the municipal building for decades, being remodeled several times. It was demolished in the 1970s and today is a parking lot for the borough hall.
