page_title: South High School (Minneapolis)
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: South High School (Minneapolis) / History / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: South High School, East Twenty-Fourth and Cedar, Minneapolis. Photograph Collection, Postcard ca. 1900
context_page_description: Minneapolis South High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the Corcoran neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A member of the Minneapolis Public Schools district, it is both the oldest and largest public high school in the city of Minneapolis, founded in 1885 and with a student population of 1,847. The school's principal is Brett Stringer, who is assisted by three assistant principals and administration from each Small Learning Community.
context_section_description: South High School was founded in 1885 inside of four rooms in the attic of the old Adams School at Franklin Avenue and Sixteenth Avenue. It was in this setting that South High School began many traditions that continue to this day. The small student body of this school within a school began publishing the South High Observer, the direct predecessor to today's school paper: The Southerner. South High Theater presented its first play—Cox and Box—in 1892. Several years after its humble start South had its first graduation, totaling twenty-seven students. Within several years, South had outgrown the Adams School and the Minneapolis School Board began a search to find a new, larger location for the school.
  They found a plot of land, purchased from a man named Frank Murphy, that had once housed an orchard and a cornfield. It was on this newly acquired land that the foundation for the new South High was laid. The building was completed on or around New Years Day, 1892, and in 1893, the 250 students of South High School and the 208 students of the adjoining middle school took the triumphant march to their new building, at 2445 18th (or Cedar) Avenue South.
  The new building was a masterpiece. Built out of red brick and sandstone in a castle-like structure, in typical 1890s architectural fashion, it featured multiple turrets, twelve-foot ceilings, stained-glass bay windows and a six-story bell tower. After the last part of the building, the bell tower, was erected, it was decided by the School Board not to purchase a bell for it. The reasons for this are unclear, but it is thought that the large bell used to mark the beginning and ending of classes was ditched in favor of an electric bell system run by a motor. The bell tower would remain until the rest of the building around it was destroyed.
  The student body kept growing at a fast pace; it had grown to between 750 and 800 students by 1909. The once spacious quarters of the school had become small, and the auditorium was sacrificed for more classrooms by dividing it up into four quarters using green curtains. Students had trouble concentrating with this setup, and the Minneapolis School Board decided changes needed to be made.
  That first significant change came in September 1910 when the new manual and training wings were opened. This new part of the school allowed students to be trained into business and other commercial professions. The highest reported number of students taking classes in this part of the school at any time was 800 students, using 149 typewriters along with other equipment. In January 1911, a new auditorium was opened up to the graduating class, with an initial seating capacity of 1,913. In contrast, South High's current auditorium has a listed seating capacity of 715. The new auditorium space, along with the manual and training wings, consisted of a new style of architecture. No clear pictures of these additions are available, and the only description offered for the style was "medieval."
  The final extension to the school came in 1916. Most of the original structure was demolished to make room for a new large building. The new structure, still connected to the old structure and the manual and training wings, followed the architectural style of its time, with a square look and evenly cut windows, at least one to a room. Several schools in the area from this period and architectural style remain.
caption: Postcard featuring South High School in 1900
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