The second Stanton Institute building, 1897. A fire twice destroyed the school, once in 1882 and again in 1901. Property insurance paid to rebuild the school after both incidents.
After the first building was destroyed by fire in 1882, a two-story replacement building was built the same year. The Stanton School, sometimes referred to as the Stanton Institute, provided a grammar school education and had been incorporated into the Duval County Schools in 1870. Helen Dillet Johnson, mother of James Weldon Johnson and John Rosemond Johnson taught at the school for two decades. During this time, they also attended the school.
On February 12, 1900, Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing was first performed at Historic Stanton. Then Principal James Weldon Johnson and 500 schoolchildren performed the song for Booker T. Washington in celebration of President Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday.
The second building was also destroyed on May 3, 1901 in a fire that destroyed most of Jacksonville. The School Board built another "huge, crude" three-story wooden building in 1902. This temporary structure was described by then principal, James Weldon Johnson as "hideous.... it looked more like a mill or granary than a school house". In the 1910s, as the poorly constructed structure deteriorated, Mr Johnson and the community protested and fought to halt the Board's attempt to eradicate the school's location and replace it with smaller "more accessible" schools. The Old Stanton School trustees and interested citizens demanded a new structure from the Board of Public Education on the existing site.
In 1914, after years of neglect from poor resources, the building was declared a fire hazard and unsafe for the 1200 students who were schooled there on a daily basis. After a legal battle, the School Board agreed to demolish the existing structure and rebuild a new Stanton School on the original site. In 1915, a $1,000,000 public bond issue to improve all Duval County schools included construction of a three story fire-proof brick building. The wooden structure remained in operation until the new building, complete with modern equipment and facilities, opened in September 1917.
Mr. Johnson added grades 9-12 to the new 23-classroom building. With that addition, Stanton operated as an elementary, junior and senior high school. It continued as a school for all grades through the administration of I.A. Blocker, G.M. Sampson, and J.N. Wilson. In the 1940s, under Principal F.J. Anderson, the school became a senior high school exclusively, which later became accredited as Stanton Senior High School.
On February 12, 1900, Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing was first performed at Historic Stanton. Then Principal James Weldon Johnson and 500 schoolchildren performed the song for Booker T. Washington in celebration of President Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday.
The second building was also destroyed on May 3, 1901 in a fire that destroyed most of Jacksonville. The School Board built another "huge, crude" three-story wooden building in 1902. This temporary structure was described by then principal, James Weldon Johnson as "hideous.... it looked more like a mill or granary than a school house". In the 1910s, as the poorly constructed structure deteriorated, Mr Johnson and the community protested and fought to halt the Board's attempt to eradicate the school's location and replace it with smaller "more accessible" schools. The Old Stanton School trustees and interested citizens demanded a new structure from the Board of Public Education on the existing site.
In 1914, after years of neglect from poor resources, the building was declared a fire hazard and unsafe for the 1200 students who were schooled there on a daily basis. After a legal battle, the School Board agreed to demolish the existing structure and rebuild a new Stanton School on the original site. In 1915, a $1,000,000 public bond issue to improve all Duval County schools included construction of a three story fire-proof brick building. The wooden structure remained in operation until the new building, complete with modern equipment and facilities, opened in September 1917.
Mr. Johnson added grades 9-12 to the new 23-classroom building. With that addition, Stanton operated as an elementary, junior and senior high school. It continued as a school for all grades through the administration of I.A. Blocker, G.M. Sampson, and J.N. Wilson. In the 1940s, under Principal F.J. Anderson, the school became a senior high school exclusively, which later became accredited as Stanton Senior High School.
