2017- Washington School

The first brick and stone school building in West Chicago, the fourth schoolhouse erected, was built in 1873 on the northwest corner of Fremont and McConnell Streets. After 1887 the school became known as North Side School, as South Side School was finished in that year, and served both elementary and high school classes. After a successful referendum North Side School was remodeled in 1908 with part of a new building being built on the 1873 building’s foundation. The school retained the name North Side school until 1931, when it was changed to Washington School and by then only housed elementary students. When Turner School opened in 1953, the elementary students from Washington went there. Washington School was then the home of the junior high school. When the West Chicago Junior High opened in 1962, Washington School was mothballed. In June of 1969 the school was demolished, when the West Chicago Fire Protection District bought the land for a new fire station. The eagle monument from the top of Washington School still stands in front of the Fire Station.