Central School
4th & Pokegama Ave., Grand Rapids
Central School was built in 1895, when Grand Rapids was hitting its peak as a logging town. It was the village’s dominant structure, focal point for the community, and a fine example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, which was popular then.
The two-story, brick building served as an elementary and secondary school, the high school being one of the first in the northern territory of Minnesota outside of Duluth. The school’s excellence ensured that its graduates could enter any university or college in the North Central region without examination.
When classes were discontinued, in 1972, the building became the property of the City of Grand Rapids.