Groton Main Street High School

Date built: 1919-20

Architect: Carl W. Clark

This building was constructed in 1919-1920 in a stripped-down neoclassical style to serve students above the seventh grade. Its plan and program followed the popular “factory for learning” concept at the time, which sorted students by age into separate classroom spaces linked by central hallways. Because the school was built on the site of a memorial board of veterans' names, an American Legion room was included in the new school along with a large gymnasium. As the school population expanded, these spaces were eventually taken over for school use. In 1954, the school became an elementary school. It was later sold in the 1960s and had several other uses before being adaptively reused as an apartment building for seniors. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

2021. V20-304. Image courtesy of The History Center in Tompkins County archival collections.

LISTEN HERE