It’s not hard to remember “the old high school” in Atlantic City. Nearly everyone who was in town before the turn of the last century remembers the stately, sand-colored brick building sitting at Albany and Atlantic Avenues, its clock tower always imposing, but rarely telling the right time.

But the high school several generations of graduates knew was actually once the “new” high school, and was in fact the third high school built in the city.

During the early growth of Absecon Island students were taught in private homes or commercial buildings. In 1864 the first building recognized by the Board of Education as a public school was located on Pennsylvania and Arctic Avenues, and taught all grade levels.

The first high school building was built in 1895—relatively late, considering the city was incorporated over 40 years earlier. It stood at Illinois and Arctic Avenues. The builders apparently expected schooling to be much less popular with teenagers than it was, because within six years the school had to be abandoned, as there were simply too many students for the small space.

In 1901, the high school was moved to another new building, this one at Ohio and Pacific Avenues. This building proved more congenial to education—even after it no longer housed the city’s high school, it served as the Ohio Avenue School for decades. Though it has since been demolished, the neighboring administration building has been re-purposed for use as an office building.

High school students bade farewell to Ohio Avenue on September 17, 1923, when the new high school opened up, across from the then-brand-new memorial to those who had served in the First World War.

The school cost a total of over $1.75 million, and was widely regarded as a groundbreaking institution. It opened with a 1,000-seat auditorium and a 6,000-pipe organ, and had an array of dedicated classrooms, including rooms for science, sewing, music and mechanical drawing.

The high school opened in an optimistic time. Atlantic City was growing, and it seemed likely that it would continue to do so forever. The high school population certainly was expanding. In 1893, when high school classes lacked their own building, three teachers taught 147 students. By 1902, when the Ohio Avenue school opened, enrollment had topped 260. In 1915, enrollment passed 1,000 for the first time, and there were nearly 50 teachers on staff.

So, when the new high school opened in 1923, it was designed with further expansion in mind. Indeed, in that year enrollment passed 2,000, and continued to climb for the rest of the decade, hitting nearly 2,400 in 1930. By this time, over 100 teachers labored to instruct pupils at the school.

Over the years, tens of thousands of students passed through the halls of the high school, and it remained one of the area’s top educational facilities. The high school became more than an institution; it became a valued part of the community.

But as the city’s fortunes declined in the 1960s, it became apparent that Atlantic City High School was no longer the exemplar of secondary education it once had been. A 1967 study concluded that the building had already outlived its usefulness, and that, for the sake of students, parents and teachers, a new building should be built.

In some communities, this would have triggered an immediate drive to build a state-of-the-art new school building. Few Atlantic City residents—or ACHS students—would be surprised to learn that, in fact, nothing happened for nearly a quarter-century.

In 1990, residents approved the financing and construction of a new high school, which started rising on a piece of land on “Great Island,” which for most residents had simply been an empty stretch of marsh between Atlantic City and Pleasantville.

After four years of construction, the new school was ready, although, characteristically, it was not done in time for the start of the school year. Finally, on November 4, 1994, the new school opened its doors. This facility cost no less than $83 million to build. Even adjusted for inflation, this was a far cry from the $30,000 spent on the original Arctic Avenue school.

Since then, Atlantic City High School has continued to welcome students in its new facility. The “old” high school building was leveled to make way for a parking lot, and has stood for the past few years as a rather unimpressive site for travelers arriving via the Albany Avenue bridge.

Recently, a development group bought the old high school site and adjacent land, raising expectations that, in the future, the site will be home to a casino or related tourist facility.

Hopefully, neither the builders nor the community will ever forget the rich history of the block that was once Atlantic City High School.

By David Schwartz

David G. Schwartz (www.dieiscast.com), an Atlantic City native, is the Director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV and the author of several books, including Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling.