Creating Lincoln High School
Lincoln High, under construction
Lincoln High School, 1924
Schools have been an important piece of Manitowoc’s history since the city’s founding in 1870. As school consolidation was being considered as early as 1869 and again in the early 1900s, there was a growing goal of establishing one central high school.
In 1915, total enrollment at the high school was 548, which was 100 students above the capacity. To alleviate the overcrowded conditions, 85 ninth grade students were transferred to Madison school on the city’s north side. The search for a site for the proposed new high school began almost immediately. On August 24, 1916, bids were opened on eleven sites which had been offered.
Plans for Lincoln High School in Manitowoc began in 1917 with a letter recommending the purchase of Roeff’s Hill as a site for a high school for $26,000.
A booklet was published for citizens to inform everyone of all aspects of the school project. In the reasons for the selection of the Roeff’s Hill site, it was noted that “it is most accessible to all parts of the city. It is in easy walking distance of any place on the south side and most of the north side.”
“The average time required by a pupil to walk to school on Roeff’s Hill would be 19 2/3 minutes. For a pupil to walk to the old Washington High School required an average of 17 ½ minutes.”
“The school would be so located that 60% of the students could go home for their noon lunch. (This would eliminate the need for a large school cafeteria.)”
Perkins, Hamilton, and Fellows, a Chicago architect firm, was hired to design the new high school. The architect recommended the Roeff’s Hill site from a list of choices because “Nature has made it one of the best high school sites in the USA.” At the time of the construction plans, 15 acres were required for an ideal high school site. There were quite a few reasons for choosing to build Lincoln on Roeff’s Hill. The site was centrally located in the city and the previous high school was too small and run down to accommodate all the students.
The school's original garden setting was designed by noted Prairie School landscape architect Jens Jensen.
Approval of the plans for the school was given in February of 1922. In June, the Board of Education amended the construction bids and decided to go with the alternate plan of building a 60 foot tower instead of a 14 foot tower with a clock on it.
Construction work on Lincoln High School was completed soon after New Year’s day in 1924. A lecture was held in the new auditorium on Wednesday, January 9, 1924. On January 16 a regularly scheduled basketball game was played in the gymnasium against Sheboygan. There were 1,400 people in attendance with “standing room only”.
On Monday, January 25, 1924 the new central high school was officially opened with 925 students enrolled. Mr. Charles G. Stangel was the first principal from 1924 to 1946. Work on the school grounds was completed in the fall of 1924. In September 1925, it was reported that the final cost of construction was $791,728.27.
On January 24, 1924, the Milwaukee Journal had a news article which said: “The 925 youngsters who managed to elude the traps set in the eighth grade examinations and fare forth in the quest for more learning are being forced to put up with a three-quarter of a million dollar layout that would have been made the proudest of the big universities green with envy a few decades ago.”
“A massive pile it is, dominating the entire city of some 19,500 residents, perched on the top of the highest prominence overlooking the lake at the southern extremity of the city and visible for miles to the southward and westward. A great tower, illuminated at night with indirect lighting, shines forth like a lighthouse over land and lake. Francis E. McGovern, former governor, in an address at the commencement exercise last June said it reminded him of the towner of the cathedral at Antwerp.”