The Historian's Desk
The End of An Era
Recently it was announced that Catholic Central High School will be moving to the St. Ambrose Campus for the 2022-2023 school year.
For thousands of students since 1923, myself included (Class of 1973), CCHS was either in what is now, RPI’s West Hall, or the campus in the former Cluett Peabody & Co laboratory on 116th Street in Lansingburgh.
Postcard, West Hall (Old Troy Hospital), HCM Collection
At the time of the school’s opening in 1923, Troy had 12 parochial elementary schools. The only parochial high school in Troy was LaSalle Institute for boys. At the urging of the pastors of the twelve parishes in Troy and from parishes across the river in Watervliet and Green Island, Bishop Gibbons head of the Albany Diocese purchased the former Troy Hospital building on 8th Street at the head of Fulton Street. $250,000 was raised to convert the former hospital into a school. Behind the main building the hospital chapel was torn down and a new four story building was erected to provide a spacious auditorium, gymnasium and cafeteria.
The postwar baby boom years became the impetus to relocate to a larger campus. It was thought that the school could initially move farther up to the Beman Park neighborhood on land adjacent to St. Paul the Apostle Church at Hutton and 12th Street, but that plan was abandoned when the Cluett Peabody & Co. laboratory became available at 116th and 6th Avenue in Lansingburgh. They opened on this new campus in January, 1953.
Since 1953, two classroom additions and a new gymnasium were built to accommodate the large increase in the school’s population. CCHS was not only known for its high academic standards but also for sports, particularly basketball and football. CCHS regularly won the Diocesan conference and the later Big 10 conference. With attendance figures at over 2,000 students per year with a geographic range covering 35 school districts, CCHS became one of the largest high schools in the Capital Region.
It was easy to spot a CCHS student in downtown Troy, by looking at their uniforms. From 1953-1960 girls wore a navy gabardine jumper with a CCHS patch that was changed every year to denote what grade you were in. From 1960-1973 a series of four different color plaid pleated wool skirts and a grey blazer with the CCHS patch were worn by the girls. Each class had their own unique color pattern. The tradition for the senior girls was to “pass” their color on to the incoming freshman class. The boys wore black pants and the same grey blazer. The more recent years have seen a combination of grey skirts and sweaters for the students with the signature purple color, CCHS colors are purple and white.
A drop in student attendance in recent years led to the decision this year to close the campus in Lansingburgh and move to the St. Ambrose School campus as the school has had a more regional focus. Currently there are no firm plans as to what will happen to the buildings in Lansingburgh.
Blueprint for Catholic Central High School at Hutton and 12th Street, c. 1948, HCM Collection
Kathryn Sheehan is Troy City and Rensselaer County Historian and is HCM’s Educator and Registrar.