Photo of the Month

April, 2001

Catawissa Public School

The Catawissa Public School, housing both elementary and high school classes,
opened its doors for the first time in April 1882.  It was located at the
intersection of East Main and Church Streets on the site of what is today
Hillside Village.  Catawissa, with a population around 1,800, had the
distinction of establishing the first public high school in Columbia County.  
W. W. Perry designed the school, and Charles Krug was the building
contractor.  The school directors at that time were E. B. Guie, B. R. Davis,
G. W. Reifsnyder, J. B. Yetter, L. Eyer and Dr. W. Walter.  Charles H. Albert
served as the first principal.  In later years, the school was enlarged,
notice the addition at the rear of the school.  When Catawissa became part of
the Southern Columbia School District in the early 1960s, the high school
ceased to exist when the class of 1962 graduated, and the elementary school
closed in 1976.