Dickinson High School

Originally named Jersey City High School, the property was purchased in 1904 and the new building opened on September 6, 1906.There was an addition in 1911 and another building added in 1937.In 1913, the school was renamed William L. Dickinson High School for the superintendent who had advocated for creation of the school during his term from 1872... to 1883. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the architect John T Rowland (whose many accomplishments included the Jersey City Medical Center). According to the ideals of the Progressive Era, the school provided the most advanced equipment for both academic education and vocational training. The many fine features of the first phase (1904-6) were reminiscent of a Ivy League college: the Greek-style terrazzo flooring, the clasically inspired murals and friezes, oak woodwork, and the advanced laboratories. The second phase (1911-12), with the addition of metalwork facilities for industrial training, increased the size of the school by 100 per cent. The, two-story two-thousand seat capacity auditorium (initially illuminated by a skylight) was for many years the focus for the most important facets of society in Jersey City. Taft, Roosevelt, and Wilson campainged there during the 1912 presidential election. Here Frank Hague retired as Mayor and transferred the Office to his nephew.Read More