5 JCPS schools were built more than 100 years ago. Here they are
About 70 years after Louisville was chartered as a city and about 20 years before the first Kentucky Derby was held, a four-room schoolhouse was built in western Louisville.
It still welcomes students each morning.
Built in 1853 near the Ohio River, Portland Elementary opened at a time when the city's population was about 43,000 and its growth was strongly influenced by the riverboats that needed to be unloaded and moved downriver. It is Kentucky's oldest school building in continuous use.
Portland Wheelbarrows 19 Jun 1949, Sun The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) Newspapers.com
In 1948, The Courier Journal noted that the community had improved - so much so that the 30-40 students who'd previously "lived in shanty boats along the Ohio River," were instead living in trailers, old buses and houses.
The following year, The Courier Journal highlighted Portland's 20th annual field day celebration, which included photos of wheelbarrow and sack races. Teachers were given carnations, and the mothers of students brought in baked cakes, the story read.
In its 170 years of existence, the school had a second story added, along with a wrap-around addition that enclosed the original structure. It is one of five Jefferson County Public Schools that have had more than 100 years worth of students traveling its halls.
Portland Elementary. 09 May 1948, Sun The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) Newspapers.com
Today, about 250 students attend the school. As a "Choice Zone" school under the district's new student-assignment plan, Portland was given a facelift this summer with new paint and banners. It's also set to receive a new playground this year. A painting of what the school looked like before the latest addition is on display in the principal's office.
Here are the other JPCS schools that have reached their 100th birthdays.
Bloom Elementary
The district's second-oldest school is in Louisville's Tyler Park neighborhood along Lucia Avenue. Bloom was built in 1896, making the large brick school 127 years old. Approximately 550 students attend the three-story school.
Its walls are lined with red lockers below student art. In 2001, the district proposed a plan to build a new Bloom on Atherton High's campus because the school was overcrowded and needed renovations. Building the new school was estimated to cost a little more than $10 million, while renovations were projected at $9.6 million.
But the plan to move was scrapped after hundreds of parents opposed the idea. The school underwent a renovation and was expanded in 2005 for $6.8 million. It was previously updated in 1968.
Breckinridge Metropolitan
JCPS' third-oldest school is 107 years old. Located on East Broadway Avenue, Breckinridge Metropolitan High has served in many different capacities.
It first served as an elementary school and community center, according to the school's website. In 1916 - the last time the building underwent a significant update - six classrooms were constructed, and the school become a teacher training institute. In 1935 the building became Eastern Junior High School. In 1966 it became Breckinridge Elementary, which would later move and be renamed Breckinridge-Franklin Elementary in 1999.
The building became Breckinridge Metropolitan in 2001. The alternative school program was previously known as Franklin Transitional High.
The school is named after Elizabeth G. Breckinridge, who served as principal during the time the building served as a training hub for teachers.
Field Elementary
Field, the district's fourth-oldest school, opened in 1915 with five teachers and 155 students in Louisville's Crescent Hill neighborhood.
The school, which now serves about 420 students, was remodeled in 1969 and in 2014.
It was named for Jefferson County Circuit Judge Emmet Field, who was elected four times and died in his courtroom, according to "Crescent Hill Revisited" by Samuel W. Thomas. Before his death in 1909, Field lived in a mansion at today's Crescent and Field avenues.
Like Bloom, the board considered closing Field in the late 1990s, but community support kept it open.
Jefferson County Traditional Middle School
The district's fifth-oldest school just celebrated its 100th birthday, with Jefferson County Traditional Middle's building opening in 1922.
Before it became Jefferson County Traditional in 1980, the building served briefly as Woerner Metropolitan - an alternative program. It was converted to an alternative program not long after the district was ordered to desegregate its schools and began busing students across the county. In 1971, the boundary lines for Woerner Junior High School shifted, which angered parents in the Highland neighborhood.
The building also housed Atherton High at one point, when only girls could attend. Its last major renovation was in 1968.
Jefferson County Traditional became a school in 1976 when it opened in a wing of Thomas Jefferson High School.
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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: JCPS schools were built more than 100 years ago. Here are they
