Washington School – Collinsville

Harwood School 1912-1915

Starting off originally as the Harwood School, it was built in 1912 to replace the Central School which had burned down. The three-story building had high school students occupying the third story until Central High School could be rebuilt. After that, it became an elementary school for grades 1-6.

Washington School 1915-2015

It didn’t bear the name Harwood for that long, only lasting a few years before it was renamed Washington Elementary School, which would remain the name for the next hundred years. In earlier pictures of the school “Harwood” can be made out above the door but now has “Washington”.

Things picked up in the late 1920s, and students began fundraising for a new piano, almost a decade later they would be gifted a new piano by the Community Church, and successfully getting money to renovate the playground equipment. The school carried on as normal over the next few decades having an incredible staff and nurturing the curiosity and knowledge of growing children.

In the late 1930s, the building experienced a small fire but it wasn’t long before it was repaired and once again serving the north side of Collinsville’s students. In the early ’40s, the desperate need for washing facilities had plagued the school for years but had finally been solved with a lavatory in the basement for boys and girls.

But times changed and in many smaller cities the need for many schools became obsolete and Washington had closed its doors for the first time since 1912. It was a shock to the community and for the hundreds of students who spent their most formative years at the school. Students would transfer to the new addition at Wilson School instead.

But the school had opened back up in the 1970s but was once again met with a cruel ending. The state fire marshal condemned the building in 1979 so a bond was set to have voters approve $980,000 for a new school. The new addition would replace the Washington Elementary School. But the solution wasn’t all that easy, the bond was defeated twice. Another bond was proposed to rebuild the school instead of a new building. Thus prefabricated buildings were added to surround the main building. About 260 students were separated into the 12 classrooms here.

Gallery Below of Washington School – Collinsville

 

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