"The Margaretta"

Margaretta High School, first called “Castalia High School,” was established in 1867. Mr. Tiffany of Oberlin was the first teacher. The second teacher was Wells W. Miller, former president of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture and a personal friend of President McKinley. The first high school in Castalia held classes in a small stone building, while the second school, built in 1874, was located on Lucas Street near the intersection of Lucas Street, Bardwell Road, and Bogart Road. In 1914 the 1874 school was torn down and a new building was constructed at the same location, at a cost of $50,000. It was “commodious, light, fireproof, furnished with all the modern improvements.” Middle school classes are still held in the 1914 school building.

Genevieve McGookey was the editor-in-chief of the 1916 yearbook entitled “The Margaretta.” The publication provides readers with a history of the school, an alumni directory, and several photographs of the students and faculty. For the yearbook, Genevieve composed a poem honoring the members of the Senior Class. Below are several stanzas:

A stands for Adams,
It’s Thomas I mean –
Who sure was the star
Of our Basket Ball Team.

B stands for Borchardt,
She’s next on the string,
Oh! yes it was Lucia
Who taught us to sing.

C stands for Cowie
Who never comes last,
‘Cause he can make
Wooden engines, that run very fast.

D stands for Dobrunz
Daisies, Drane and all the rest,
But of all these
Our Emma D’s the best.

E stands for Eggert,
And elocution, by gum,
But to truly describe her
It ought to be the first letter in “fun.”

F stands for Fischer
Tho’ she is quiet as a rule,
She works hard at lessons
And does good work in school.

G stands for Geneva
Who mustn’t think she’s slighted
Because we did this to place her
Near the boy whose life she blighted.

H stands for Havice
Basketball manager, I’ll have you know,
And also I’d like to add
He’s now Mabel’s beau.

To learn more about the Margaretta High School class of 1916, visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. The 1916 edition of “The Margaretta” is Box-H-10 in the “Neighboring Communities” collection.