Former Mandan Middle School. Dustin White photo

Dustin White
Editor

Education has been an important aspect of life in Mandan. Beginning before the city of Mandan was officially organized, while the city name fluctuated, children were given the opportunity to attend school.

The first recorded term began in the spring of 1877, with an enrollment of just 12. At the time, there were no school buildings present, so the inaugural classes were held in the city’s first courthouse.

Over the next few years, classes would be moved to multiple other locations, including a log cabin, owned by J.J. Mitchell, in 1879; in the Methodist church basement, in 1880; and the Presbyterian church basement in 1881.



With rapid growth in Mandan, a need was seen to construct a proper school house. In 1882, the Emerson Institute, a two-story wood building, welcomed its first classes. By the next year, it would boast an enrollment of 60 students.

The Emerson Institute would become more than just a school building though. It became a center for entertainment. Housing special programs, including concerts and plays, during its short life, it would attract visitors from not only Mandan, but also Bismarck, who came to the city by a special railcar named Accommodation.

Enrollment at the Emerson Institute grew rapidly. In 1883, the school was divided into two grades, both of which would fill up quickly. With the space becoming quite limited, the first school board of directors, which was comprised of Daniel Flynn, Dr. Henry W. Coe and Frank J. Mead, approved of an addition to the building.

Emerson Institute was now able to provide a course of study over six years. The education system in Mandan was beginning to quickly develop.

Rapid growth
While the school system in Mandan was quickly evolving, the population of Mandan was also experiencing rapid growth. In 1887, the city was nearing the 2,500 mark, which forced the school board to find additional ways to absorb the growing enrollment numbers.

With the Emerson Institute operating at full capacity, the school board began renting the Vinton Building, as to serve as an additional school.

The Vinton Building would serve as a temporary relief, but the need for additional schools was sorely felt.

In 1890, the first of those new schools was opened. Situated on the west side of town, the school was simply referred to as the West End School. Originally having been a home, the two-story building was easily converted to serve the needs of the school district.

Continuing to struggle with keeping up with the growth of the city, the school district would expand once again in 1897. With the Emerson Institute, which had an enrollment of 450 students, discontinuing classes, three new schools would be built.



On the east end of town, Ward School was built for the primary grades, while two larger schools were constructed in the area of town known as the Syndicate, named Lincoln and Jefferson. Just two years later, residents of Mandan would make their wishes known, as they voted to approve a bill to construct a three-story brick school, which would house both the junior and senior high, as well as the grade school for the west part of town.

Central School
In 1900, the three-story brick building, named Central School, housed all of the 552 school children in first to 12th grade. It was the cities first high school.

With the opening of a high school in Mandan, the first graduation class, with just two students, was held in 1901.

Construction of this new school served the city quite well. Knowing that the school would eventually have to grow, the site chosen allowed for ample opportunities.

The first expansion to the school occurred in 1911. In order to house a growing high school class, an addition was constructed on the west edge of the lot.

Big news came in 1915, when the school board at the time, in a bid to retain their positions, made the promise, that if they were reelected, Mandan would have a new high school.

True to their word, the school board immediately began trying to full fill their promises to the voters. The construction of the new facility would shortly begin, at a time in which new high schools were being built throughout state.

However, instead of finding a new site, a major addition would occur to the Central School in 1917, which would house the new high school, as well as a gymnasium, allowing students to finally practice basketball at school, and no longer at the old opera house on the corner of First Avenue and Second Street N.W.

Even though the new high school would please voters, to whom a promise was kept, as well as help ease space issues at the Central School, an unforeseen occurrence would once again leave Mandan in search of options to house an ever increasing school population.

Farm students and a new school
In the early years of Mandan, the school system saw very few farmers sending their children to school. At a time when the city was building additional schools to house a growing number of students, no rural students were attending the local high school.

By 1921, just a few years after farmers began sending their children to school, they were the highest percentage of students from any vocational classification, compromising 31.1 percent of the school body.

Part of the increase in farm students was credited to the success of the Mandan High School football and basketball teams, which had won the district championship for four consecutive years. Coupled with the high scholastic standing of the school, as well as unusual gymnasium privileges, Mandan became attractive to many in rural areas.

The increase in enrollment soon led to the new high school, which was built in 1917, to become outgrown, leading to plans for a still larger building.

Searching for options, Mandan would acquire $125,000 worth of bonds from the state, in March of 1921. $100,000 was apportioned for the new high school, while the remaining was for the Syndicate School.



Plans were made to secure a new site, allowing the new high school to stand out as an institution by itself, but with a limited budget, the school district decided to put the building on the block, where the Central School stood.

Meeting with great opposition from the citizens of Mandan, who preferred a new location, the new high school was completed in 1924.

Merging with the Central School, the site continued a long tradition of educating the students of Mandan and the surrounding communities.

Eventually, the high school would be turned into the Mandan Junior High School, and finally the Sixth Grade Academy.

In the next few weeks, we will continue this exploration of the history of the former Mandan Junior High, as well as what the future holds for the historic landmark.