From the Archives: Old Central School
Take a glimpse into Lemont’s past, courtesy of the Lemont Area Historical Society.
Photos
The Lemont Area Historical Society has generously offered to share photos and accompanying information with Patch readers each week, depicting people, places and things from the village's storied past.
This week's featured photos are of what has commonly known as Old Central School, which has been converted to condominiums. The first is a classroom photo, circa 1900 – and the second, a view of the back of the building, which featured a long, tube-like fire escape.
It’s been said that many kids who lived in the area (perhaps even some of the students pictured in the classroom) used to climb up and slide back down the fire escape, just for fun. We doubt they told their moms and dads about their dangerous escapades!
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Discover more about Lemont history at the historical society museum in the Old Stone Church at 306 Lemont St. The museum is open to the public and welcomes visitors. For more information, visit the LAHS web site at http://www.lemonthistorical.org/ or contact lemontahs@sbcglobal.net.
The Lemont Area Historical Society also invites readers to share their photos of Lemont’s past, to be added to the LAHS archives.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
There are plenty of ways to keep up on Lemont news:
David F. Herman
7:46 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
I lived across the street from Lemont Central when I was in grade school and High School. In the summer of 1973 my best friend and I took off the bent hoops from the basketball courts, straitened them using my dad’s acetylene torch to heat and bend them back. We then installed them and painted the backboards florescent yellow and hoops florescent pink. The police caught us doing it just about dusk. They asked us what we were doing. We told them that we couldn’t see the hoops going into dusk, so we’re painting them. They couldn’t believe we were improving the courts and not destroying them. We played basketball every day all that summer vacation. Lemont Central class of 1974.
Linda Ozbolt
9:44 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
David, What a great story! Thanks for sharing. I'm hoping some of your fellow Lemonters will share their stories, too.