The Building

The original Delaware High School was built in 1885-86. It was located on Winter Street between the First Presbyterian Church and St. Peter's Episcopal Church.

At right is what the center hallway looked like the morning after January 9, 1910. There had already been a "new addition" added to the south side of the building. It was saved from the fire that was believed to have started by one of the seven new furnaces in the basement. (They were $32.50 apiece!)

The Delaware Gazette photo

The school was rebuilt as pictured here. This begins to look familiar to us as "The Old Building". But don't be fooled. It burned again in 1929! However, the third time is the charm. The building was rebuilt and attached to the new addition on the south side - forming Willis High School as most of us knew it.

Below is how the "new" building looked (the south addition, facing William Street) in the 1936 Delhi. Who can forget the long dark hallway, partially lined with lockers, between the two buildings? And I wonder if all those rumors that the "old" building was about to fall down stemmed from its history of fire? But as we all know, it's still in use today - and will continue to be used as a fifth and sixth grade school.