WHS Historical Archives

Wabash High School officially began in 1869 when Joseph John Mills (J.J. Mills), then principal of the Union School (located at Union and Miami Streets in Wabash and also known as Central School), walked into the eighth-grade classroom and proclaimed that any student who had already completed the eighth grade and would like to go to high school, should follow him. At that time in history students would sometimes return to school after the eighth grade to study some additional subjects such as Algebra and Latin. Several students chose to follow Principal Mills and proceeded to the unused 3rd floor of the building.  Just like that, Wabash High School was created and three years later on Thursday, June 6, 1872, at 2:00pm, the first two high school diplomas were presented to Ella Truxell and Margaret Robertson, the first two graduates.

 

In the 150 plus years since those students followed their principal up a set of creaky wooden stairs to the unused third floor of the school, Wabash High School has had a long and storied history. From being one of the oldest continually occupied high schools in the State of Indiana (current building opened to students in 1926, added onto in 1967 and 2020) as well as a founding member of the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), to now being an Early College High School for all students and a mentor school for others to follow, Wabash High School has become more than a school; it is a living building full of life and rich with history and traditions.

 

Much of the history of Wabash High School has been recorded in student publications, old documents, newspapers, and school yearbooks. Starting in the Spring of 2021, it is our goal to digitize these documents and place them on the school website for all of our community to read, learn from and enjoy, while occasionally laughing and marveling at how times have changed..

 

This is a huge undertaking and will take some time so please be patient as we slowly work through our collection.  We also ask our families, community, and visitors, if you have old documents, student publications, yearbooks that we may be missing (1911, 1912, 1922, 1935, 1936 and 1977), or other items relating to Wabash High School/Wabash City Schools, please consider allowing us to copy/digitize them to further help tell our story.  Should you wish to donate monetarily to this endeavor we ask you to contact the Wabash High School front office at 260-563-4131 for more information. Thank you and enjoy your step back into Wabash High School history.

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