Southside High School

Story

Northside High School is one of two public high schools in the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas, both of which are administered by the Fort Smith School District. Within the state, the school is commonly known as Fort Smith Northside.HistoryThe original Fort Smith High School completed construction in fall 1897 and was described as one of the "Seven Wonders of Fort Smith" with its English castle-style, buff-brick and grey-stone building until a deadly tornado nearly destroyed the building three months later January 11, 1898. Also in Fort Smith, Howard High School (1888) and Lincoln High School (1892), both black schools, ran until 1966.On 19 November 1928, Fort Smith High School moved into a new building on 23rd and B Street in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The population of Fort Smith at the time was 31,400. The new building was dedicated on 15 February 1929, just before the mid-term class graduation could take place. The first year, 848 students enrolled in the high school (it could accommodate 3,000 students). With the new large building, many local organizations, as well as nationally known groups and individuals used the 1,060-seat auditorium for performances and other types of events. Since it was built, the auditorium has been visited by such famous people as Helen Olheim, opera singer with the Metropolitan Opera (1937–38); Carl Sandburg, poet, biographer and entertainer (1939–40); Margaret Bourke-White, war correspondent, photographer, author (1943–44); Nancy Gean, FSHS graduate and fashion analyst for Butterick (1947–48); Nelson Bennett, world-famous model for painters and sculptors (1965–66); and Shawntel Smith, Miss America (1995–96).