History with Mike: Abington’s earliest schools, including Friends Meeting (1702), first schoolhouse (1822), first public high school (1888), and more

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August 31st, 2023 | By Ryan Genova

According to local historian Mike Leibrandt, the original Abington Township High School was a five-acre complex of approximately four educational buildings. The first structure was built in 1888 and stood at 1801 Susquehanna Road, across from the former Abington YMCA.

The complex was the Township’s first purpose-built school building and served as a high school, junior high school, and school administration facility. All but one of the original buildings were demolished in 1996 and replaced by Sunrise Senior Living, a senior facility. The only surviving building, which is also the oldest (pictured above), is believed to have been built by a church architect, in part because of its church-like facade.

1801 Susquehanna Road today, courtesy of Sunrise Senior Living

The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Huntingdon Junior High School’s campus included a memorial field which still exists across from Sunrise and served as the site of Abington Senior High School’s home football games until the early 2000s, and its graduation ceremonies until 1999.

The district’s current administration building, located at 970 Highland Avenue, was built in 1909 and closed to students in 1983. The district’s current junior high complex and administration building are located on the approximate former site of Knight Tract Farm.

Abington High School circa 1915, courtesy of Alamy.com
Abington High School circa 1930, courtesy of Alamy.com
North Campus building looking Northeast, circa 1965 (courtesy of Ed Mullen)
North Campus building looking Southeast, circa 1965 (courtesy Ed Mullen)
South Campus building looking east, circa 1965 (courtesy Ed Mullen)


More nostalgic photos courtesy of Ed Mullen, class of 1968:


According to the Spring 2018 edition of Abington Alumni, the first school in the Abington area was conducted by the Friends Meeting in 1702, and the first public school was a house built by John Tyson in 1822. It also says:

The school was on one side of his home on Susquehanna Road north of Bradfield Road. It became known as the Valley School and was abandoned in 1858 when the Plank Road School was built at Easton and Edge Hill roads.

In the middle 1800s, Abington Township’s first public school was at West Avenue and Cedar Street in Jenkintown, which was not yet a borough. In 1888, Abington had five schools at the pre-high school level.

The current high school is a mid-century product of award-winning architect Paul d’Entremont, AIA (1908-1988).

Courtesy of Marc d’Entremont

For a deeper dive into the various pre-high schools that have been built in Abington over the past two centuries, you can click here. Four additional sources which have detailed the school buildings’ history include:

  • Helen Shaffer’s “A Tour of Old Abington” published in 1960
  • A 50th anniversary booklet published in 1956
  • The Abington Historical Society’s “Local Abington History” published in 1976 T
  • The Old York Road Historical Society’s “Images of America: Abington, Jenkintown, and Rockledge”, published in 2000.
Abington Senior High School today, courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

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Feature photo courtesy of Hagley Digital Archives circa 1939