DeVilbiss High School (Toledo, Ohio)

Thomas A. DeVilbiss High School was a public high school in Toledo, Ohio from 1931 to June 1991. It was part of the Toledo Public Schools, serving students from the DeVeaux, Elmhurst, Grove Patterson, Longfellow, Mayfair, McKinley, Nathan Hale, Old Orchard, and Whittier elementary schools. The building still sits at 3301 Upton Avenue near the Central Avenue intersection.

DeVilbiss High School
Address
3301 Upton Avenue

, ,
43613
Information
TypePublic School
Opened1931
Closed1991
School districtToledo City School District
Grades912
Color(s)Orange & Black
   , the rainbow
Athletics conferenceToledo City League
NicknameTigers
YearbookPot O' Gold

History

DeVilbiss opened its doors in 1931 to serve Toledo's growing west side and was built to accommodate 2,400 students.[1] The DeVilbiss Tigers were members of the Toledo City League and donned the colors of orange and black for sporting events. On the contrary, the school colors were the colors of the rainbow, hence the yearbook being the Pot O' Gold, and the school newspaper/newsletter the Prism. Their main rivals were the Start Spartans, although rivalries existed with the St. Francis Knights and the Libbey Cowboys, whom they annually played football against on Thanksgiving day[2] from 1933–1963.

In 1974 DeVilbiss received an obscure salute when 1965 alumnus, and then budding satirist P. J. O'Rourke, along with fellow Ohioan Doug Kenney, used the Pot O’ Gold and DeVilbiss as templates for the National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody. That issue contains dozens of direct and indirect references to DeVilbiss and west Toledo. O’Rourke later said that they  “… used DeVilbiss because Ohio and Toledo and DHS just seemed so perfectly 1964 American prelapsarian typical…” By “prelapsarian” he meant before the social and political unrest and violence that occurred in the intervening ten years.[3]

A map of campus

Due to a declining enrollment and low finances, DeVilbiss was closed along with Macomber and Whitney high schools by TPS at the end of the 1990–1991 school year. The DeVilbiss district was split up so students could attend Bowsher, Rogers, Scott, or Start high schools.[4]

The building has been renovated by Duket Architects and currently serves as Toledo Technology Academy,[5] which opened in 1997.[6]

DeVilbiss served as the home of Scott High School for two years while Scott's building underwent renovations from 2010–2012.[7]

DeVilbiss' Page Stadium was fully torn down at the end of May 2012.[8]

Ohio High School Athletic Association state championships

  • Boys Cross Country: 1970 Class AAA
  • Boys Golf: 1940, 1950
  • Boys Track & Field: 1946 (Class A), 1987 (Class AAA)

Toledo City League Championships

A postcard featuring the building.
  • Baseball: 1935, 1936, 1937, 1940*, 1950, 1954*, 1957, 1962, 1964, 1980
  • Boys Basketball: 1934–35, 1935–36, 1943–44*, 1949–50, 1951–52*
  • Boys Cross Country: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1981
  • Girls Basketball: 1983–84
  • Girls Cross Country: 1984
  • Football: 1938*, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961*, 1973, 1974, 1989
  • Boys Track & Field: 1933, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1954, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989
  • Girls Track & Field: 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989
  • Volleyball: 1977, 1984, 1986
  • Chess: 1973, 1974, 1975
  • Golf: 1967
  • Tennis: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967

(years marked with an asterisk (*) denote a shared title)

Notable alumni

References

  1. http://devillbiss.blogspot.com/
  2. Hackenberg, Dave (November 27, 2003). "Scott-Waite game kicked off great tradition of high school feasts". Toledo Blade. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  3. email correspondence with P.J. O'Rourke October 16, 2019
  4. Krauth, Laurie (February 28, 1991). "Schools open to lure transfer students". Toledo Blade. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
  5. "Toledo Public Schools — Toledo Technology Academy and DeVilbiss Middle School". Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  6. "The rebirth of DeVilbiss High". Toledo Blade. September 8, 2000. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  7. Kushma, David (October 20, 2013). "Bulldog Nation at 100: Scott's past, present converge". Toledo Blade. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  8. Hackenberg, Dave (June 1, 2012). "Sad good-bye to DeVilbiss' Page Stadium". Toledo Blade. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  9. "Dusty Anderson – the life of a starlet". 23 February 2019.

41°40′56″N 83°35′33″W

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.