Lewiston School District history

As mayor, Doctor Stainton had been granted trusteeship of all Lewiston properties subsequent to the survey of 1874.

The property (known as School House Lot) was deeded to the district on 10 February 1876 by Henry W. Stainton, then mayor and a school trustee.

The district was chartered by the Territorial Legislature in December 1880 as Idaho’s first public school district.

In May 1881, Sarah Vollmer and Fannie Poe were the first women to run for public office in the Idaho Territory, vying for seats on the school board.

(Lewis and Clark Building) Constructed 1882.

This dispute led to the adoption of a standardized curriculum. It is not known exactly when the first high school level work was done in Lewiston Schools; but, in 1888, when C. A. Foresman became principal, the high school was reorganized, and a two years’ course of study was established.

While the first high school class graduated in May 1890, this was the first formal graduation, taking place at the old Masonic Temple.

Founded in 1893, Lewis-Clark State College's 125-year story is one of hardships and heroics, but a central theme throughout it all is an undying passion to succeed -- just like that of our students.

Graduating Class of 1894, with Charles A. Foresman, the principal and only high school teacher.

The legislature issued bonds in 1895 to complete the first campus building, but in the meantime, temporary space was set up on the second floor of a downtown Lewiston business.

6, 1896, 46 students took part in the first class in that building.

On September 5, 1898, the trustees hired John D. McConkey, the rector of the local Episcopal church and past headmaster of parochial schools in Walla Walla and Lewiston, as the first full-time superintendent, awarding him a salary of $30 ($850 today) per month.

In 1903 the first school was a large, 2-story, white building, located in the area of the Johannesburg Middle School wing.

(Webster Building): constructed 1904.

1200 Block on 9th Avenue.The property was purchased from Christ Weisgerber on 3 June 1909 for $9,000.

The land was purchased in June 1910 from the Idaho Trust Company for $2,000.

1915, showing the old (Webster) and new high school.

The Administration Building’s east wing was completely destroyed by fire in 1917, but residents again responded with donated books, supplies and classroom space.

The property was purchased from the Weisgerber Estate on 2 April 1919 for $7,000.

As late as 1920, 60 percent of Idaho’s secondary students attended one-room schools.

The legislature approved funding for a new Administration Building in 1921.

An outdoor basketball court was built in 1924.

To the left is the 1928 (and present) high school building, albeit without its additional wings.

In 1931, the Johannesburg Manufacturing Company gave the corner brick building to the school, and it was then remodeled, using mostly W.P.A. labor.

The college also built Warrior Gym in 1935 for its growing athletic teams and intramural programs, which helped provide some of the groundwork for the national success the Warriors would experience decades later.

With the school’s role still expanding, the legislature changed the name to Northern Idaho College of Education in 1947.

A new Whitman Elementary School was built in 1948.

The current elementary area of the Lewiston School was built in 1950.

In 1951 a 4-classroom school was built as the original part of the current Johannesburg-Lewiston Area Schools (K-12) building.

The college reopened in 1955 as Lewis-Clark Normal, a two-year institution and branch campus of the University of Idaho.

No reference to the famed expedition in the name of a Lewiston school would be made until 1959, when Sacajawea Junior High School was built.

The building later served as an elementary school, being renamed “Webster.” By 1960, it had been demolished to make way for a new high school combined gymnasium and classroom complex.

Talks began in 1965, about a county school reorganization plan, and later breaking ties with Atlanta, and sending the Lewiston students to Johannesburg Central School on a tuition basis.

For a period of about twenty-five years, ending in the 1966-67 school year, Lewiston students received their high school training at Atlanta Community Schools, attending on a tuition basis.

Talks began in 1967 regarding an annexation of the Lewiston School District.

On March 11, 1968, a letter was received from the Lewiston School Board requesting Johannesburg accept the Lewiston students in grades 7-12.

By 1970-71 two sections of grade 4 needed to be maintained, one in Johannesburg and one in Lewiston.

With such academic diversity, the school name again changed in 1971 to its present name, Lewis-Clark State College.

The corner brick building was demolished in 1983.

In 1984 the Lewiston School District Trust Fund was created to provide funding for programs and projects to benefit the staff and students of Lewiston Independent School District #1.

The Library was constructed in 1991, and the college celebrated its Centennial anniversary a couple of years later.

To address this situation, the Lewiston Independent Foundation for Education, Inc. (L.I.F.E.) was incorporated in 1996.

On November 1997, a dedication was held for a major additions and renovations project at both schools.

In 2002, 6 new classrooms were added in Johannesburg and 4 in Lewiston.

Sacajawea Hall, a state-of-the-art nursing and health sciences facility, opened in 2009.

Now almost a century old, the building still houses the office of the President, key administrators and the Silverthorne Theatre, which underwent a major $1.3 million remodel in 2014.

In 2015 a new school was built on the same property.