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Subject: Laurel Academy
Erected
by:
Erected 1972 by the Grand Lodge, F.A.A.U. of
Indiana
Located: Northwest Corner of Fayette and Pearl Streets, Laurel, Indiana
Text
and History:
Established 1837 as a private academy.
With
financial help by Laurel Masonic Lodge, school
trustees erected three-story brick building.
1852, as
Laurel Collegiate High School. The
Freemasons
occupied the third floor. Vacated
by school, 1915.
This Franklin County seminary was forced to charge tuition
rates
which would bring it within the reach of the
great
mass of the people. As a result, it
did not have
the
money to hire a sufficient number of teachers
and
this resulted in the instruction being inferior to
that
given in Laurel. Only the more
advanced
attended
this academy. By 1852, it boasted 6
teachers
and an attendance of 100 pupils. The
school
was well equipped with chemical and
philosophical
apparatus, globes, maps and all the
necessary
apparatus and appliances for successful
collegiate
instruction. The sessions were 22
weeks
long
and pupils were admitted at any time upon
examination.
The end of the old academy came in
1853
when voted to change its character by adopting
the
graded school system recommended by the
superintendent
of public instruction.
