This is the original Annie Wright Seminary designed by architects Boone & Meeker as it appeared circa 1886. The private school for girls opened two years before in September of 1884, thanks to its benefactor, Charles B. Wright. The building's foundation came from Wilkeson stone and brick. Its sharp gables and turrets added to the impressive ediface. A gymnasium was added in 1899 and was the sole remaining building left when the school was razed in 1924. Due to growing enrollment, a new campus arose at 827 Tacoma Ave. N. the same year.

Finishing touches were being put on the newly built Washington College building at 714 Tacoma Ave. So. Thanks to the generosity of Charles B. Wright, money had been donated to start the private school for boys, the male equivalent of Annie Wright Seminary. It opened on September 2, 1886, with an enrollment of 65 boys, half of them day students. The Depression of 1892-93 forced many students to leave and the school closed in 1892. This building later served as the Tacoma High School from 1898 to 1906 when the high school moved to the remodeled Tourist Hotel at N. 1st & E Streets. It was later demolished in the summer of 1912 to make way for the new Central School Building and the site address changed to 601 So. 8th St.

Members of the Tacoma High School faculty and the senior class, class of 1900, posed on the porch and steps of the school then located at 714 Tacoma Avenue South. The site was the former location of the Washington College, private school for boys. Two students have been identified in the photograph: George (or Georgia) Armstrong and Roy Knapp. Roy Knapp is seated in the second row of steps, second from left, next to an unidentified female. He was the business manager in 1899-1900 for the "Tahoma," the monthly publication of the Tacoma High School students and would pass away in 1906. Two cadets sit on the step railings. They are holding their distinctive hats and appear to be wearing similar clothing, i.e. uniforms. Cadets would participate in drills and would have an armory prepared for their use. KING 012, TPL 1038.

This is the original Central School, built in 1883 for $18,000 and located at 1114 S Altheimer (then S G St), now the area of Bates Technical College. It was modeled after the Euclid Avenue School of Cleveland, Ohio, by architect Joseph Sherwin of Portland. It stood out along the Tacoma skyline with its 90-foot bell tower visible for miles. The school contained twelve rooms and was considered a showplace for the city. Rapid growth made the enrollment climb to 964 by 1886, taught by a staff of 18 teachers. Remodeling and additions to the school occurred before the school moved its 1000 elementary students to a new Central School located at So. 8th & Tacoma Ave. So. in 1913. The new Central School cost $165,000, almost ten times the cost of the original school. The old Central School was demolished in 1914 and served as a hobo shelter for a few months prior to its demolition. (Olsen: For the Record, p. 47-48-various photographs) King 009, TPL 1103.

Back of photo:
Central school, S.W. corner of S.W. and G. St now the Bates Vocational School Tacoma, Wash.