It's true what they say, you never stop learning! One Evansville high school has been around for quite some time!

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Hoosier History

Lately, I've been having fun highlighting some of the oldest places around the Hoosier state.  Of course, if you're from Evansville, you already know that the Log Inn is the state's oldest restaurant.  Recently though I found out about Indiana's oldest store and the oldest high school in the state of Indiana.  But I recently learned that one Evansville high school holds a pretty neat distinction for being one of the oldest high schools in the entire state.  Let's dive in!

A Small, But Notable Difference

In my last article, I highlighted that New Albany High School was the oldest high school in the state of Indiana.  This is true, it opened its doors in 1853, however, it did close for some time and during that time it was used as a hospital for Union soldiers during the Civil War.

After writing about New Albany High School, someone reached out and said they believed that Central High School in Evansville was in fact, the oldest.  So I had to do a deep dive to figure out what exactly was going on.  It turns out Central High School opened as Evansville High School in 1854 just a year after New Albany.  However, Central never closed (it has just changed locations over the years)  and Central is the oldest high school in the state of Indiana in continuous operation.

When Did Evansville High School Become Central High School?

According to Mr. Ira Harris who wrote a research piece for Central High School, the school opened as Evansville High School in 1854 and was changed to Central High School in 1918 after another high school opened in the city.  When the school first opened in 1854 there were 17 students enrolled, 9 girls and 8 boys.

Why Are Central High School's Colors Brown and Gold?

This is super cool, Central High School's colors were chosen to be brown and gold sometime before 1908.  The combination of colors was suggested by a teacher at the school as they were the colors of her sorority.  I bet she'd love to know that more than a century later those colors are still being well-represented by Central High School.

Past Central High School Locations

A lot has changed over the last 169+ years, and Central High School has had to change locations a few times, according to Central's website, the following are the past locations:

1854 First and Chestnut Street
1855 Second Street between Main and Locust
1855 First and Vine Street
1855 Public School Building, Fourth Street, (Became Wheeler School)
1863 Second and Clark Street
1868 Sixth and Vine Street
1970 5400 First Avenue (Students 1971 - 72 school year)
*taken from a plaque in the front foyer of Central High School

Today Central High School sits on First Avenue, and are known for being the Central Bears! You can check out much more about Central High School's history, here.