This abandoned parochial school was quite a discovery for us. The property is very active and only the school sits abandoned. The school was built back in 1922 to accommodate the influx of religious people moving into the area; many wanting their children to be educated under the Christian umbrella. The school was built to hold students from grades kindergarten through 12th grade, with both money from the church as well as private donations. By the 1950’s the school was In its heyday and had nearly 2,000 pupils at that time. It continued to operate at near student capacity for many years.
In the 1990’s, the school began to change. Due to declining enrollment within many parochial schools in the 90’s, the student body population started to decrease more and more each year. In 1995, the graduating class had drastically dropped to only a couple hundred students. This left the administration and faculty with no other choice but to permanently close the school. Unfortunately, Protests from the school administration, parents, students, and even some residents of the local community - all fell on deaf ears.
After closing the school in the 1990’s, it seems that a lot of the school stuff was just all left behind. Most notable were some of the classrooms still had desks, chairs, and even some textbooks. The library was also largely untouched and nearly every book shelf was lined with books; each section referenced and categorized. And that is one of the main reasons that this location was such an incredible explore. It’s certainly not everyday that we get to explore such a location with history and all that was left for us to discover.
