Oley Junior High

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 14th Street entrance to Oley Junior High School. The junior high
and the adjacent Oley Elementary were both demolished in 1979.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HUNTINGTON — A New York native, Union General John Hunt Oley served with
 distinction in the Civil War. In 1871, he moved to the then-new community of
Huntington, where rail tycoon Collis P. Huntington employed him as a
sales agent for his Central Land Company. Oley was elected
recorder and treasurer in the new city's first election.
 As recorder, Oley was in charge of establishing
 Huntington's first school system.

In 1888, a brick school building consisting of 10 rooms, an office and a
 basement was erected on 5th Avenue at 13th Street. Because Oley
had died as the school building neared completion,
 it was named in his honor.

In 1904, the city's first high school, named Central High School, was
constructed east of the 1888 building. Later the two buildings
were joined to form a single complex under one roof,
stretching from 13th Street to 14th Street.

When the new Huntington High School building was built on 8th Street in 1916,
 the first high school was renamed Central Junior High. About 1940,
 its name was changed again, this time to Oley Junior High.

Declining enrollments brought the closure of both Oley Elementary and
 Oley Junior High and in 1979 both schools were demolished.
 Initially, the vacant block-long property was acquired by
 nearby River Park Hospital. Later it was purchased
 by St. Joseph Catholic High School.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on July 1, 2017.

-----------------------------------------------------------

[ Back ]