Portage Center School
Portage Township
Location: District No. 5 – intersection of South Westnedge and Centre Avenues.
Map of Kalamazoo Co., Michigan. Philadelphia : Geil & Harley, 1861. Library of Congress Kalamazoo County 1890, Published by Wm. C. Sauer. Local History Room
Prior to 1855, the original Greek Revival structure was built at the southeast corner of South Westnedge and Centre Avenue. In 1880 a larger brick one-room school was built on the northeast corner of the same intersection. The original was demolished. In 1911, the brick building was remodeled into a two-room school and was used until 1922, when it was consolidated. That building was also demolished. There are several photographs of these buildings in Portage and Its Past .
The old brown frame schoolhouse (District No. 5) at Centre and Westnedge, c.1879. Portage and its Pasts by Grace J. Potts. Standing from left: Priscilla Donahue, Minnie Bacon Geddes, Grace Thompson Garlick, Libbie Reid, Bessie Hawkins Bennett, Mary White Patterson, Miss Emma Averill (teacher), Mabel Bacon Munger, Clara Durkee Austin, and four younger children, including Vida Thompson Smith and Bess Thompson Southwell. Seated boys include Eddie Pike, Francis Donahue, and Sherman Fox. The last District No. 5 school c.1920s. Portage and its Pasts by Grace J. Potts Teachers c1879 Emma Averill
Page launched March 2022.
Sources
Books
An oral history of Portage schools: Cleora Skinner to Pete McFarlane, 2017.
H 370.9774 O633 (circulating copy also available)
Portage and Its Past , by Grace J. Potts, 1976Files
Teachers’ and School Officers’ Directory, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, 1921-22
Shelved in a pamphlet box with H 379.774 K149 (History Room Storage)