(
collected from the Woodward Technical High School yearbook 1927-28) In 1853, the first Toledo high school was built on the block surrounded by Adams, Madison, Michigan, and 10th streets (currently occupied by the
Toledo-Lucas County Public Library). The building was finished in 1857 and the first class graduated from
Central High School in 1858. In 1872,
Jesup W. Scott selected a body of trustees to establish a "University of Arts and Trades" for the city of Toledo. A donation of $15,000 by trustee William H. Raymond in 1873, followed by a donation of $50,000 by Scott's family following his death on January 22, 1874 helped set up a school of design in the original high school by January 1875. Unable to carry out the wishes of donors, the trustees tendered the property to the city of Toledo in January 1884. The Scott Manual Training School was opened and had the distinction of being one of the first such schools to offer courses in Domestic Science. The building was destroyed by a fire in March 1885, but was rebuilt as a much larger structure in 1886 with sixty-one rooms and an auditorium that was larger than the original building. Until 1913, this was the city's only high school building except for a few years where the first two years of high school were offered at East Side Central. Students were eventually transferred over to
Jesup W. Scott High School in 1913 and
Morrison R. Waite High School (named for
Justice Morrison Waite) in 1914 when these schools were opened. In January 1912 the Elementary Industrial School was established within the Central building with an emphasis on mechanical drawing and woodwork. When the remaining high school students left for Waite, the industrial school sought a new name. The new school was named Woodward Junior High School for
Calvin M. Woodward, an advocate of manual training. When the school added four-year classes, it became Woodward Technical High School. With four high schools established by 1923 (Scott in the west end, Waite in the east side, Woodward Tech near the north, and
Central Catholic near downtown), a suitable high school was necessary for the south end.
Edward Drummond Libbey High School was built and named for the
Libbey Glass founder and
Toledo Art Museum creator who gave money for the school's property on Western Avenue. In 1927, Vocational High School was established in the Woodward Tech building as well. Woodward Tech would move into a new building on Streicher Street in 1928 and become
Calvin M. Woodward High School. Vocational High School remained in the old building until 1938 when it moved into a new location on Monroe Street and became
Irving E. Macomber Vocational High School. In 1931,
Thomas A. DeVilbiss High School was also built in the quickly-expanding west end and named for a local industrialist.
Harriet Whitney Vocational High School was also established in 1939 as a girls' trade school, and it would eventually become joint-operational with Macomber in 1959. In April 1937, Woodward High School displayed a
Tesla Coil formerly owned by
Nikola Tesla to the public, which they had acquired for educational purposes. As Toledo continued to grow, so did its school district. Two more high schools were opened in 1962:
E.L. Bowsher High School was named for a former TPS superintendent to ease crowding at Libbey, and
Roy C. Start High School was named for a
former Toledo mayor in order to ease crowding at DeVilbiss. When Toledo fully annexed Adams Township in 1964, TPS also acquired
Robert S. Rogers High School into its system in 1966. In January 1968, the Ohio General Assembly allowed TPS to annex Spencer-Sharples School District despite it not being geographically connected to the rest of the district. In 1970, the
Jefferson Center was set up in the old downtown post office as an alternative high school for students with behavioral issues. Macomber and the Jefferson Center were threatened with closure in 1989,{{cite web | last = Lane| first = Tahree| title = School board gives reprieve to Macomber TPS was able to rebuild, renovate, and reorganize many of its school buildings in the early years of the 21st century with help from the State of Ohio. Many neighborhood grade schools were lost, but the school communities were given state-of-the-art facilities. ==References==