Princeton High School
Consolidated High School at 151 Moore Street
Opened 1928.
As dramatic increases in junior high enrollment put the Model School building beyond capacity, plans to build a new state-of-the-art high school accelerated. The school board hired Ernest Sibley, a New Jersey architect and school specialist, to design a progressive facility, complete with spaces for academics, arts, sciences, and athletics. Silbey envisioned a school full of natural light, architectural detail, and wide corridors. The new building would also feature personal lockers instead of the typical coatroom. Seven acres off of Moore Street were purchased in 1926 and the high school’s cornerstone was laid two years later.
In September 1929, Princeton High School opened its doors to 578 students from Princeton Borough and Princeton Township. A November 1929 ceremony celebrated the school’s opening. Speakers included the United States Commissioner of Education, and members of the high school’s first graduating class of 1898 presented the school administration with a commemorative flag.
Architectural plan for new Junior and Senior High School, Princeton, New Jersey. Historical Society of Princeton.
Throughout the planning process, Princetonians debated whether the new school should be designed in the Collegiate Gothic style favored by Princeton University or the more Colonial style of downtown Princeton. Voters ultimately approved a Collegiate Gothic design, complete with arched entrances and a tall tower.
The Tower school newspaper, 1930. PPS Archives.
After the school was completed, the Princeton High School newspaper renamed itself The Tower after the building’s central architectural feature. Editorials described the school’s new Gothic-style auditorium, where “a sense of peace” filled the room “full of dignified beauty.”
Princeton High School, circa 1946. PPS Archives.
Ernest Sibley designed Princeton High School to allow for future expansion. Sixty years after this photo was taken, a new wing featuring a performing arts center was added to the original building.
Manual Arts Training (“Shop”) class. The Tower, Princeton High School.