The "Memories From What Seems Like Another Lifetime" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of the old Manheim Township High School in the town of Neffsville, Pennsylvania.  Neffsville is a bit over 8 miles from downtown Lancaster as the crow flies and was where I attended Junior High School as well as Senior High School.  

What was at one time the Manheim Township High School in Neffsville, PA

At the time, the school was one of the largest school buildings in the country with a price of about $250,000.  The architect for the new high school was Henry Y. Shaub according to an article in the July 25, 1928 Intelligencer Journal Newspaper from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  

The original one level school that used to be on the same location.

The new school, which according to Shaub, was to be one of the few modern buildings in Lancaster County and would have 26 rooms with an auditorium-gymnasium combination.  I entered the building as a 7th grader in the Manheim Township School District at the age of 12 and was in awe of my surroundings.  The auditorium was immense and the gym, behind the blue curtain at the front of the auditorium, was really neat.  On either side of the gym were stairwells that led to the basement where the shower rooms were located.  But, by the time I had reached the building, it was becoming obsolete and there were so many students in the building that my music class in my 7th and 8th grade years was held across the street in front of the school in the Neffsville Fire Hall.  By the time I was in 9th grade, a new High School, which held grades 9 thru 12, was opened and I had the chance to be a member of the first class to go through the school for four years.  That high school still remains in the same location, but only the original gymnasium, swimming pool (yep we had a swimming pool in the high school), and auditorium remain today.  The remainder of the school was demolished over many years and enlarged.  

Another, earlier photograph of the High School along Valley Road.

Well, that high school on Valley Road, where I went to Junior High wasn't the original school on that site.  The original school was built in the early 1920s and stood for slightly over 6 years.  Then on the evening of January 2, 1928, the school burst into flames and firemen from six local fire companies fought the raging inferno in zero degree temperatures.  Neighborhood cisterns and wells were emptied as well as a nearby stream which ran dry as water was supplied to fight the fire.  

High School graduation from the school on Valley Road years ago.

By the time the fire was extinguished, the school had burned to the ground.  Students had to go to school in nearby churches and fire company buildings for the next few years until what I am standing in front of today was completed.  Mr. Henry Y. Shaub was also the architect of the first building on the site.  The second building on Valley Road did have a planetarium added to it at one time, but that was eventually removed when the new high school opened in 1957 and had it's own planetarium.  The second rendition of the old high school was designed in the Art Deco style of architecture.  The ornamentation on the exterior of the school features line carvings that were completed by spraying sand with the use of compressed air to form the carvings.  On either side of the main entrance, which faces south on Valley Road, are tall human figures which are gripping iron chains  which are attached to the top of metal lanterns on either side of the entrance.  

The lettering and figures can be seen in this photograph.

On the front corners of the building are figures which appear to be standing guard over the building.  Directly above the front door is an engraved owl, but my favorite feature is the embossed Old English lettering at the very top of the entrance that reads, Manheim Township High School, in two lines.  Recently there was an article in the Lancaster Newspaper, which was written by renowned local architect Gregory Scott, that tells more of the story of the architecture of the building.  If you are a subscriber to the newspaper, you can access it online.  Today the building is still owned by the school district, but is now part of the Intermediate Unit 13 program in Lancaster County.  But to me, it will always be the huge big building that I entered as a young boy, having to travel by school bus for the first time in order to reach my destination.  What's even more memorable is returning to the school about 25 years ago to set up a print shop in the basement for a few years where I printed school documents on the AB Dick press.  Same basement where I received my first, and only, paddling as an 8th grader for shooting a spit ball, during lunch, through my straw at the girl on the other side of the table.  How time flies!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Close-up of the lettering.  Click on images to enlarge.

Figures hold a chain that connects to the top of the light.

An owl can be seen in the center panel above the front door. 

This is another figure that also holds the lights.

On most remaining entrances to the school are embossed panels.

One of two corner figures that are "Standing Guard".

The front door entrance even shows an embossed design above the window panels.