The fourth or fifth house at Shamokin was erected in 1837 for school purposes, and thus early in the history of the town its educational record begins. This first school house was a one-story frame building of diminutive proportions, situated on Dewart street; it was subsequently occupied as a dwelling, a shop, and as the armory of the Shamokin Guards. In its last years it was used as a stable, and ultimately met destruction in a fire that swept over that part of the town.
The first school was opened in the winter of 1837-38, principally through the efforts of John C. Boyd and Ziba Bird, by whom Abia John, of Shamokin township, was employed for a three months’ term at the munificent salary of eight dollars per month and board. But the school was small, and no great degree of professional skill was required in those days. The furniture was of the most primitive character, and of apparatus it is not probable there was any. But the teaching seems to have been satisfactory, and when the adoption of the public school system was voted upon in 1838, it was decided in the affirmative by an almost unanimous vote from the citizens of the embryo borough.
This was the first school within the present limits of Coal, Mt. Carmel, Cameron, and Zerbe townships, embracing the boroughs of Shamokin and Mt. Carmel, with a school population of four or five thousand and school property aggregating in value several hundred thousand dollars at the present time. The pupils at this school were:
- Hannah Bird
- Ziba Bird
- David Snyder
- Rachel Snyder
- Ephraim Phillips
- Ellen Phillips
- William W. Wary
- Catharine Wary
- Perry J. Eaton
- Lydia Ann Porter
- Elizabeth Porter
- Ephraim Mowry
- Marie Mowry
- Emmeline Mowry
- Morgan Mowny
The public school system was adopted in Coal township in 1838. The sentiment was strongly in its favor among the mechanics and laborers employed at Shamokin, and equally strong in its opposition in the territory that now constitutes Cameron township.
The first board of directors was composed of:
- President – Sylvanus S. Bird
- Secretary – Kimber Cleaver
- Treasurer – Jehu John
- James B. Porter
- George Long
- David Billman
It does not appear that any active measures whatever were taken that year. The composition of the board was unchanged by the election of 1839, except that William Fagely succeeded Mr. Porter; the same president, secretary, and treasurer were chosen as in the previous year, and Benjamin McClow was appointed tax collector. A local tax of two hundred one dollars, thirty-five cents, was levied, which, with the State appropriation of six hundred thirty dollars, placed a total sum of eight hundred thirty-one dollars, thirty-five cents, at the disposal of the board. Eight sub-districts were formed.
At that period in the educational history of this region, the position of tax collector was not a sinecure. Mr. McClow encountered great difficulty in the discharge of his duties, especially in Cameron township, where the tax was regarded as tyrannical and unjust, and the sentiment of the people was almost unanimously opposed to the system. He was threatened with violence, but pursued his work unmolested, traveling, it is said, more than five hundred miles for the purpose of making collections, and received a little more than five dollars for his services.
Building operations were begun by the board in the summer of 1839. A two-story brick building was erected on Sunbury street at a cost of six hundred dollars, and completed in February, 1840; it subsequently formed the eastern part of the Central school building, and was ample at that time for the requirements of No. 2 district, comprising the present territory of Shamokin borough and Coal township.
In No. 5 district a small frame building was erected at a cost of ninety-four dollars, eighty-seven cents. This was in Cameron township. John Fidler and William Stizes taught therein during the following winter, but the practical application of the system does not seem to have popularized it, and in 1841 Coal township was divided into two general school districts by act of the legislature. The citizens of South Coal promptly defeated the system, while the withdrawal of a hostile minority tended greatly to establish it permanently in North Coal. There a tax of three hundred twenty-seven dollars, eighty cents, was levied, and a State appropriation of one hundred forty-five dollars was received, sufficient to place the system in operation and sustain the schools several months. The first teacher at Shamokin under this regime was John T. Rood, of New York; he resigned after teaching fourteen days, for some reason that does not appear upon the minutes of the board, and was succeeded by Mary Shipman, who also taught only a few weeks. The first teachers who remained any length of time were Amos Y. Thomas and Jehu John.
While the town of Shamokin formed part of North Coal and of Coal township school district the buildings erected or secured for permanent use as school houses were the Central, previously noticed, the Penrose, the Newtown, and the Academy buildings. In 1865, when the borough became a separate school district, eight schools were in operation, for which the following teachers were appointed for the term of 1865-66, respectively: No. 1, the high school, in the Academy building, John B. Savidge: No. 2, intermediate, Central building, Samuel Wood; No. 3. intermediate. Penrose building, Hudson Sober; No. 4, intermediate, Central building, Miss Hay; No. 5, primary, Penrose building, Emma’ Raup; No. 6, primary. Central building, Miss Martz; No. 7, primary, Newtown building, John Haas, and No. 8, primary, Academy building, Samuel Reeder. Their salaries ranged from thirty to sixty dollars per month.
The first school board of the borough was organized June 9, 1865, and was composed of:
- President – Pemberton Bird
- Secretary – Dr. J. J. John
- Treasurer – Frederick S. Haas
- Daniel S. Miller
- Matthias Ernes
- William K. Erdman
The school buildings of the borough are known by the respective names of the Academy, Penrose, Stevens, Garfield, Washington, and Lincoln. Of these the Academy is the oldest. It was originally projected in 1852 by the Lutheran congregation and its pastor. Rev. C. J. Ehrhart, encouraged and assisted by William L. Helfenstein, William Fagely, Kimber Cleaver, Jonas L. Gilger, Joseph Bird, and other public spirited citizens of that period. The Shamokin Collegiate Institute was incorporated, April 28, 1854, with an authorized capital of twenty-five thousand dollars and the following officers: president, Kimber Cleaver; secretary, Dr. William Atwater; treasurer, Jonas L. Gilger; who, with Kev. C. J. Ehrhart, William Fagely, and Daniel Yost were the first trustees. Bonds were issued and a sufficient amount of stock subscribed to erect the large brick building on the square bounded by Eighth, Arch, and Grant streets, agreeably to plans prepared by Kimber Cleaver. But the anticipated indorsement of the movement by the Lutheran synod was not secured, and after the walls and roof of the building had been completed the enterprise collapsed. Local resources had been exhausted, and for some years the building remained unfinished and unused.
In 1857 Lewis L. Bevan, postmaster of the town and an ardent supporter of the public school system, suggested the feasibility of purchasing the building and adapting it to the purposes of an academy or high school. A public meeting was held at the Central school house to consider the proposition, but it was not regarded favorably. No further action was taken until the 16th of July, 1863, when, at a special meeting of the school board of Coal township, Dr. E. S. Robins, George McEliece, W. F. Roth, Jonas L. Gilger, and Frederick S. Haas, members present, it was resolved to purchase the property if a clear title could be obtained. Messrs. Roth, McEliece, and Gilger were appointed a committee to secure legal advice on the subject. At that time the surviving trustees of the old academy association were W. H. Marshall, W. M. Weaver, and Charles P. Helfenstein, and Messrs. Gilger, McEliece, and Harper were appointed by the board to confer with them.
On the 20th of September, 1863, Messrs. Haas and McEliece were appointed to bring the purchase to a final consummation, but legal obstacles intervened, and it was not until March 14. 1864, that the property was secured by the board, at coroner’s sale for the sum of twenty-nine hundred fifty dollars, in pursuance of action taken by the board, March 7, 1864. Several of the rooms were finished for immediate occupancy, and others as the growth of the school population required: the last apartment was adapted for use by a resolution of the board passed on the 19th of July, 1871. At the present time there are nine school rooms and four class rooms in this building; the high school, two grammar schools, three intermediate, and two primary schools are conducted here.