Johnson City Central School District history

Incorporated on September 15, 1892, Lestershire’s population increased from 3,000 to 10,000 in the first 10 years.

Other business following the Lester brothers to the Village included a brush factory, Roberson’s Lumber Company and the 1900 Washer Company.

On March 21, 1916, the Village of Lestershire was renamed Village of Johnson City to honor George F. Johnson and his family.

The 1934 Science Hill High School faculty with a student, Evelyn Sue Russell, in the inset photo to the left.

As time passed and Johnson City acquired a public school system and a school board, a 1936 newspaper clipping said the school buildings at that time were “not of sufficient capacity to accommodate the children of Johnson City.”

According to local historian Bob Cox, Science Hill students paid tribute to the old school on the hill in a program titled “Junior Civitan Variety Show — Tribute to Old Science Hill,” which was hosted on May 12, 1961.

The growth in the Oakdale area included the construction of a new high school in 1970, four apartment complexes and countless residential homes.

It would be another three years until African-American students at Langston High School joined the students of Science Hill, and another 18 years before the old Science Hill campus was eventually demolished in early 1979.

In the 1980’s, the hospital expanded again, adding the Decker Building and the Wilson Square Office Building.

In the 1990’s, the Village experienced another surge of growth with the development of the Carpathian Hill project, which included the construction of office buildings, the home of WBNG-TV, the Highlands Senior Housing and numerous residential lots.

Additional construction for the new campus – including 11 classrooms and an expansion of the library and cafeteria – was finished in 1997 to meet the demands of a growing student population once again.