Central High School (Davenport, Iowa)

High schools had operated in various buildings and Davenport since 1861, the longest-lived of those sites being in roughly the area where Seventh and Eighth, and Iowa streets are today. An early history of Davenport and Scott County stated that the building was opened in 1875, and "grew from year to year until the building was too small to accommodate the numbers."[5]

In 1900, a site for a future high school was secured at the old Griswold College property, roughly where 12th and Main streets are today. The school board agreed to purchase the property from the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa for $53,000, and voters agreed to move forward with the purchase. The Davenport history described the site as "an ideal one for the high school of this city. The ground covers a block in the central part of Davenport; it is beautifully situated, centrally located and readily accessible."[5]

School board members spent time studying "the best high school structures in the Mississippi Valley," and after outlining their wishes, the architectural firm of Clausen & Burrows were hired to draw up a blueprint for the new building. The H.B. Water Construction Co. of Danville, Ill., was hired as general contractor, and construction began in 1905. The groundbreaking was described as a "great outpouring of the inhabitants of this city," with students and Bishop Morrison of the Diocese of Iowa participating. The building's facade was made of Marquette rain-drop sandstone and red tile roof, floors of terrazo mosaic and hardwood maple, and French plate-glass windows.[5]

Construction of the four-story tall (three stories above a "tall basement"), 202×204-foot building, was completed in January 1907, with a capital cost $347,000 and capacity for 1,600 students. The new building included a gymnasium, a 1,300-seat auditorium, a manual training room, science laboratories, a library, mechanical and free-hand drawing rooms, cafeteria and administrative offices. The science laboratories were described as being "the most abundantly supplied with the most modern apparatus and other means of successful instruction."[5]

F.L. Smart was principal when the new high school opened; George Edward Marshall was named principal in 1907,[5] and served until his death in 1932. The gymnasium, with seating for 4,000 people, is named after Marshall.

In 1910, there were seven course of study, each 40 weeks long and "sufficient to meet the wants of all students of high school age." Academic disciplines 100 years ago covered Latin, German, science, English, commercial business, manual training (for those entering industrial and technical careers) and domestic science.[5] One hundred years later, different courses of study are in place.

For more than 40 years, the new Davenport High School building served as the city's lone high school, and until the late 1950s, the school also served the secondary education needs of much of Scott County as well. Bettendorf did not have its own high school until 1951, meaning many Bettendorf students wanting to further their education chose Davenport High. The same was true for many northern Scott County students prior to 1958, the year North Scott High School opened in Eldridge.

As for Davenport, by the late 1950s, the city had grown to more than 80,000 residents, and one high school campus was no longer enough to meet the city's needs. West High School opened in 1960 to accommodate students from the fast-growing west and northwest parts of the city, plus the surrounding rural areas of which the Davenport School District encompassed. "Davenport High" then became Davenport Central, and served the central, southern and northeast areas of Davenport. The city's third high school – North – opened in a renovated junior high school building in 1985 and served the northwest areas of Davenport.

Many additions and renovations have been made to the original 1905 high school building.

Throughout the school's history, Davenport Central has enjoyed great success in many of its sports, earning many MAC conference titles and producing all-state athletes that have enjoyed success at the collegiate level and in their careers.

For many years, Central − and Davenport High before that − enjoyed success in sports, including football, basketball, wrestling, track and baseball. Football teams have won numerous state titles in football, including Class 4A playoff titles in 1973, 1976 and 1983.[6] Many former Blue Devil players won all-state honors, and several went on to illustrious careers in professional football, including Roger Craig of the San Francisco 49ers. From 1941 through 1970, Central − and Davenport High before that − won seven state titles and two runner-up trophies in boys basketball.[7][8] Since then, Central teams have appeared in three state tournaments, winning two state runner up trophies (in 1979 and 2008).[8][9]

• Baseball (11-time State Champions - 1940, 1941, 1944, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1960, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979)[10]
• Boys' Basketball (12-time State Champions - 1913, 1920, 1921, 1929, 1930, 1941, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1958, 1970)[11]
• Boys' Cross Country (2-time State Champions - 1951, 1971)[12]
• Football (6-time State Champions - 1955, 1957, 1962, 1973, 1976, 1983)[13]
• Boys' Tennis - 2007 Class 2A State Champions[14]
• Boys' Track and Field (14-time State Champions - 1915, 1931, 1935, 1942, 1947, 1952, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2005)[15]
• Girls' Track and Field (2-time Class 3A State Champions - 1982, 1984)[16]
• Volleyball - 1981 Class 2A State Champions[17]
• Wrestling (2-time State Champions - 1954, 1956)[18]