
About
Richmond Hill High School-
"The Hill"
Located at 89-30 114th St., Richmond Hill,
NY- (718) 846-3335
Excerpted from "A Peek at Richmond Hill through the Keyhole of Time", the Richmond Hill High School Dome Publication 1973- 75th Anniversary, and The Queens Chronicle Newspaper- June 11, 1998 By Ronald Marzlock
Researched by Carl
Ballenas
Photos courtesy of Steve
Edwards and Carl Ballenas
School Song Lyrics to the Richmond Hill
High School Song
100th Anniversary Celebration of Richmond
Hill High School
Principals Past and Present of
Richmond Hill High School
1919 Arista Group Photo and Names of
First Aristas in 1919
RHHS Alumni
Register here if you attended Richmond Hill High School
Alumni
List View RHHS Alumni Registrants
(Photo
of Richmond Hill High School at 89th Ave. and 114th St., 1905)
The History of Richmond Hill High School
THE "DOME"
In 1899 the Richmond Hill community built a high school at a time when there
were very few in Queens. Newton and Flushing high schools were among them.
Over a year in construction and boasting a dome with an astronomical observatory
and a telescope which cost $6,000-at a time considered an enormous amount
of money. Here many a young voice was "lifted, hearty, earnest,
free", as they "rendered loyal honor, Richmond Hill to thee", as the old
school song goes, which was sung to the tune of the Cornell school song.
The
school's first principal, Isaac Newton Failor, was a mathematician and astronomer.
The initial faculty of the school consisted of three teachers, one of whom-
a Miss Voorhees-taught there until her retirement in 1939. The first graduating
class, '01, numbered one: Florence M. Ketcham. Many residents at this time
felt the high school far exceeded their needs but in a few short years they
would be proved wrong. The school yearbook and newsletters were quickly dubbed
"The Dome". Other schools were named after presidents, and Revolutionary War
heroes, but not Richmond Hill.
By the start of the twentieth century, Richmond Hill had approximately 4,000
residents. By the year 1914, the Board of Education sought appropriations
of $216,389 for an addition to Richmond Hill H.S., needed due to an overtaxing
of existing classroom facilities. The high school graduated 36 seniors that
year. Total registration for the fall term was 410 boys and 754 girls, a total
of 1,164 students. Only a year previously, enrollment was 997 students.
With the influx of even more residents, Richmond Hill had to start building
another high school on the property in 1928. It was completed just before
the Depression began in late 1929 under the administration of Mayor Joseph
McKee. The original school was demolished and is now the athletic field of
the new Richmond Hill High School. The first principal of the new school was
Matthew Dann who lived at 85-52 112th St. His brother, Roland Dann, who lived
at 87-23 114th St., was appointed principal of Far Rockaway High School.
More on the 100th Anniversay of Richmond Hill High School:- In 1998 Richmond Hill High School celebrated its 100th Anniversary. If you attended, share your comments in our GuestPage.