Central School

The first Central School was built in 1871. The Grand Haven Tribune hailed the belfry-topped school as “the finest in the state” and “the pride of every citizen of Grand Haven.” The newspaper blamed arsonists for burning the school on May 5, 1901, and stated that more than one man would “contribute his services to a lynching bee, if the firebug had been detected.” A second school, built on this site in 1902, housed over six hundred students in grades kindergarten through twelve. That school burned in 1963. The bell from the school was salvaged, but not usable. The following year the present elementary school opened. In 1965 the local Methodist church donated a bell from its old church so that the school could continue its tradition of ringing a school bell to call students to class.