Portland High School (Maine)

Portland High School
Portland High School
Address
	284 Cumberland Avenue; Portland, Maine; United States
Information
Type	Public secondary
Established	1821 (203 years ago)
School district	Portland Public Schools
Principal	Sheila Jepson
Faculty	75
Teaching staff	68.50 (FTE)
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	952 (2022-2023)
Student to teacher ratio	13.90
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Blue and White
Mascot	Bulldog
Rival	Deering High School
Accreditation	New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Website	phs.portlandschools.org
	Portland High School
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	284 Cumberland Ave., Portland, Maine
Coordinates	43°39′33″N 70°15′32″W / 43.65917°N 70.25889°W
Area	1 acre (0.4 ha)
Built	1863
Architect	Harding, George M.; Multiple
Architectural style	Classical Revival, Italianate
NRHP reference No.	84003879
Added to NRHP	November 23, 1984

Portland High School is a public high school established in 1821 in Portland, Maine, United States, which educates grades 9–12. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district, and is one of three high schools in that district, along with Deering High School and Casco Bay High School. It is located at 284 Cumberland Avenue in downtown Portland. Along with its sister school, Deering High School, a family can choose which of the two to send their students to.^[3]

History

Established on Exchange Street in 1821, originally as a boys' school,^[4] Portland High School is one of the oldest high schools in the United States. Joseph Libbey was its first principal. A separate school for girls was added in 1850, and in 1863 the school moved to Cumberland Avenue, its present location. The original school building on that site, which is now the middle wing of the modern school, was originally divided into two by a brick wall running from top to bottom of the building to divide the girls from the boys. Much of the wall has been removed, but its remains can still be seen in the basement.^[5]

The main school was constructed between 1915 and 1918, according to the plaque by the front entrance. On February 15, 1919 the new Portland High School along Cumberland Avenue, opened. It was designed by Miller & Mayo. The new school had a lecture hall and mechanical arts classrooms. It also had two kitchen classrooms, three sewing rooms and two classrooms for typing.^[6] The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 23, 1984.^[2]

In 1989 a new annex was opened containing more classrooms, a cafeteria, a theater/auditorium (named for John Ford) and an athletic facility.

Approximately 700-1000 students are enrolled each year. In June 2010, 174 students graduated from Portland High School.^[7]

Sports

Portland High School uses the off-campus Fitzpatrick Stadium, Hadlock Field, Portland Expo, and William B. Troubh Ice Arena for the school's sporting events.

The Deering High School and Portland High School football teams have played each other each Thanksgiving since 1911, except for 1920 and 2020.^[8]

Notable alumni

W. Edward Crockett, state legislator^[9]
Ted Lowry, heavyweight boxer^[10]
Wyatt Allen, Olympic gold and bronze medalist in rowing
James Phinney Baxter III, faculty member at Colorado College and Harvard, won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book Scientists Against Time^[11]
Paul Franklin Clark (1882–1983), bacteriologist and virologist
John Ford (then known as John Martin Feeney), film director
Robert Hale, U.S. Congressman (1943-1959)
Gail Laughlin, first woman from Maine to practice law and founder of the National League for Women's Service
Dave Littlefield, Former Major League Baseball executive, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates
John Lynch, U.S. Representative
Admiral Robert E. Peary, explorer, first to claim to reach the North Pole
Quinton Porter, professional football player
Thomas B. Reed, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Lois Rice, corporate executive, scholar and education policy expert
George Thompson Ruby, first Black graduate of Portland High School and a prominent black Republican leader in Reconstruction-era Texas
Reginald Bartholomew, U.S. Diplomat/Ambassador (1936-2012)
John Calvin Stevens, architect, pioneer of Shingle Style

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c "Portland High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Writer, Rachel OhmStaff (2021-09-23). "Enrollment gap between Portland and Deering prompts new look at high school choice". Press Herald. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
^ Forecaster, Michael KelleyThe (2021-08-30). "Portland High School celebrates bicentennial". Press Herald. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
^ School History -THE HERITAGE OF PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL Archived 2004-11-08 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Back to School". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
^ Portland High Graduation: Class of 2010 represents its multicultural city well Portland Press Herald, June 3, 2010
^ Craig, Steve (November 25, 2020). "Coaches say local Thanksgiving football tradition is worth saving". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
^ "W. Edward Crockett". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
^ "Mapping Black History in Maine". www.mainepreservation.org. Maine Preservation. Retrieved December 6, 2021. Lowry, who lived at several addresses in Portland including 999 Congress Street, attended Portland High School where he excelled at several sports.
^ Baxter, James Phinney (1946). Scientists against time. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780598553881. Retrieved 24 June 2015.

External links

Portland High School homepage
Portland High School profile provided by schooltree.org
Portland High Lacrosse
Portland High Football

[NCES-1] "Portland High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 16, 2024.

[nris-2] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[3] Writer, Rachel OhmStaff (2021-09-23). "Enrollment gap between Portland and Deering prompts new look at high school choice". Press Herald. Retrieved 2022-04-16.

[4] Forecaster, Michael KelleyThe (2021-08-30). "Portland High School celebrates bicentennial". Press Herald. Retrieved 2023-09-14.

[5] School History -THE HERITAGE OF PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL Archived 2004-11-08 at the Wayback Machine

[6] "Back to School". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved 2021-06-15.

[7] Portland High Graduation: Class of 2010 represents its multicultural city well Portland Press Herald, June 3, 2010

[8] Craig, Steve (November 25, 2020). "Coaches say local Thanksgiving football tradition is worth saving". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 19 May 2021.

[9] "W. Edward Crockett". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-02-11.

[10] "Mapping Black History in Maine". www.mainepreservation.org. Maine Preservation. Retrieved December 6, 2021. Lowry, who lived at several addresses in Portland including 999 Congress Street, attended Portland High School where he excelled at several sports.

[11] Baxter, James Phinney (1946). Scientists against time. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780598553881. Retrieved 24 June 2015.

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v t The City of Portland, Maine
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