Winchester High School history

1850 - The Town of Winchester was incorporated.

In 1851, the Lyceum Building was constructed to contain a hall large enough for Town Meetings.

In 1859, the Winchester Library Association gave its collection of about 1,100 books to the Town to form the nucleus of a public library, first housed in business buildings on Main Street.

The first bank, the Winchester Savings Bank, was established in 1871.

The large and solid Brown & Stanton Building (pictured left) was built in 1886.

An impressive Town Hall was built in 1887.

The village’s most notable building was the Black Horse Tavern (demolished in 1892) on the Medford-Woburn road.

By 1900, Winchester’s days as a mill town were clearly past.

1920 - The passage of the 19th Amendment opened the door to women candidates for elected offices.

McCall lived out his life in Winchester and when he died in November 1923, the entire town went into mourning.

1930 - The Town, whose roots went back to Puritan Charlestown, joined in the state’s tercentenary celebration of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and welcomed the mayor and mayoress of Winchester, England, as its honored guests.

Winchester High School incorporated neighboring Alsey High School in approximately 1949.

1956 - After discussion and controversy which began in the 19th century over the dangerous grade crossing in the town center, a railroad overpass was completed in 1956.The proliferation of automobiles has spawned other challenges which have carried through into the 21st century.

1960 - John Volpe was elected governor, becoming the town’s second governor in residence, following Samuel W. McCall, governor during WWI. In the same election that took JFK into the White House, Volpe got about 80% of the local vote.

Maribel Jr. had won the the national pairs skating title and Laurence was the 1961 United States National champion.

In 1969, the school was renamed the Francis J. Muraco School in memory of a United States Marine who died in Vietnam.

In 1971, Town Meeting officially voted to name the school after Ambrose.

1972 - A new high school opened.

In 1973, the middle school was moved to the building now known as McCall Middle School.

1987 - Town Hall was renovated during a decade which also saw a downtown revitalization program laid out.

1991 - With a mix of nationalities as well as faiths living in town, the Multi-Cultural Network was founded to help build an inclusive community.

2000 - Temple Shir Tikvah opened a synagogue on Vine Street, a significant step in a long history of the gradual integration of a diversity of cultures into what was originally a Protestant, Yankee town.

After the first two projects were completed in 2002, the program was redesigned, approved by the State, and construction began again.

History The school began a $133 million renovation project in 2014.