Tyrone High School 1910-1962

A high school was planned in 1910, and by 1911 it was able to accept students despite the fact that it was still under construction.

Tyrone’s first high school principal was Norman C. Koontz, a man who went to Yale. He remained in Tyrone for only one year.

A trend quickly developed among the principals, as they were replaced in rapid succession: W. W. Raker, 1914-1917; H. B. Weaver, 1917-1918; Joseph Miley, 1918-1920; J. Kimber, 1920-1922; W. R. Bell, 1922-1925; R. R. Abernethy, 1925-1927; John Bowser, 1927-1929; F. Clark Skelly, 1929-1945.

In 1914, J. L. Gaunt was elected as the Superintendent of Schools. During Gaunt’s tenure, German and French were added to the curriculum.

Gaunt also began holding inter-school debates with Huntingdon High School in 1913, thus confirming the often cited legend that the speech and debate team are the “oldest sports” at Tyrone High School, predating the football program by nine years.  These debates continued until World War I. 

In 1913 the also school came out with its first magazine, called “The Spokesman,” which later became the school’s newspaper,

the forefather of today’s Eagle Eye.  After WWI, the school magazine was changed to a newspaper.

The forerunner to today’s prom also got its start in the 1910s.  The Junior Reception, as it was called, was not held in school because dancing was frowned upon by the administration, according to Ralph Wolfgang, a former Tyrone teacher who wrote an early history of the school in 1978.  

Students at the time could also participate in the Junior Oratorical Contest.  Participants would give a speech and students would vote on their favorites.  The winners received cash prizes. First place was awarded $10, second place receieved $7.50, third place was $5, and all other participants received $2.50.  

In 1917 also saw the publication of Tyrone’s first yearbook, “The Falcon.” Publication was suspended after only one year, presumably due to World War I, and resumed in 1921. Scaned copies of the yearbook can be found here.

In the fall of 1918, a great epidemic of influenza swept the country and affected every public institution, including Tyrone High School. The schools, and most other public places, shut down to prevent the spread of influenza.  The shutdown began on September 27, 1918 and continued through November 11th. Also, on the morning of November 11th, whistles also sounded off to mark the end of World War I.  Locals recall that the whistles left no chance to oversleep.

According to Wolfgang’s History, the children returned to school with a holiday mood and there was more celebration than learning that day.

One of the first instances of technology being introduced to the school was a radio that was purchased for the science room 1922. Students could pay for the privilege or listing to the radio by purchasing a share of the radio at a cost 25 cents.

According to a booklet of the history of the school published in 1978, the first Tyrone football team was formed in 1922: by 1924 it tied with Altoona, and in 1925 beat Altoona for the first time. The team used the Athletic Park until 1933 when the school bought its own field behind Adams School.

Some interesting facts gleaned from the pages of the Spokesman include the following:

On January 6th, 1930, the bells rang at the wrong time, all but three seniors were late.

In March of 1930, seven delegates representing the Spokesman went to New York City to attend the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Convention.

Additionally, the first mention of the Tyrone football team being referred to as the “Golden Eagles” appeared in the 1933 Falcon Yearbook.

In October of 1934, the Junior Red Cross sold almost 15,000 tons of peanuts at the YMCA.

Several Tyrone students were sent to Chicago in May 1936 to represent the Tyrone chapter of the Junior Red Cross.

When the United States entered World War II in 1942 many seniors, and even some underclassmen, enlisted in the armed forces and left for war.  Tyrone even started preparing for air raids, as mentioned in the Spokesman.

In November 1945, the Spokesman ran a full two page spread in honor of recent Tyrone graduates who were killed in action.

In 1944, kindergarten was introduced in the elementary for the first time.

In August of 1946, the vocational department purchased $30,000 worth of equipment for the various classes.

In 1949 a new newspaper called ‘The Sophomorean’ was also printed by the students at Tyrone High School. Only one issue has been found.

In 1959 Dr. Norman Miller, superintendent, raised $35,000 for an indoor pool. Mr. John Meyers gave $1,000 on the condition that he could throw the superintendent into the pool.  The pool was constructed and the superintendent kept his word and was thrown in the pool.

The current Tyrone High School was completed in the 1960s and the old one was closed.

The 1962 Falcon Yearbook eulogized their old school, “It is with a touch of sadness and nostalgia that we leave the building which has so long been synonymous with ‘Tyrone High.’ Not only the class of 1962, but the entire student body and the classes of the past will hold dear the memories of its halls and classrooms. May this, the last yearbook to issue from its doors, be a fitting tribute to this building which has so faithfully served the many students of the Tyrone Area.”