District 6 Office
The first school in Central Point was a one-room log building built in 1854
across the road from Gilman’s Dairy on Beall Lane. Lumber was obtained from Deskins Mill in Prospect, a one-room frame structure was built, and the old log building was torn down. In later years, the school was moved at least twice, to the corner of Beall Lane and Jacksonville – Central Point highway, and ultimately to Central Point just south of the where the brick building is today on Fourth Street. In 1887 a new two story wood framed school was erected in a grove of oak trees where the brick building stands today. In 1906, the need for a larger school resulted in moving the wood-frame schoolhouse to just south of its location and erecting a new brick school.
In January, 1908 the building burned. The loss was reported as $36,000, of which $10,000 was insured. All children’s books and records were also lost. As soon as the fire had cooled, rebuilding began, using the undamaged walls of the previous school. During construction, the old wooden school was repaired to be used by the upper grade students. The lower grades were housed in the city hall or in the nearby Church of Christ while workers completed the rebuilding of the school which reopened in the fall of 1908.
The brick building remained the Central Point School until 1926 when yet another school was erected on the same property. The old wood framed school that had been moved to erect the brick building was torn down to make room for the new high school building. The brick building then became the elementary/junior high school. It remained so until Crater High School was constructed in 1951 and the high school students were moved to a new location. The brick building then became part of Central Point Elementary School and housed grades 1-8. In 1968, Scenic Junior High was completed and 7th and 8th grade students were moved to their new location.
The brick building continued to house numerous students in grades K-6 until 2003 when a new Central Point Elementary School was erected on the same property. The old high school building and the “cottages” were torn down. In 1980, the brick building was selected for National Historic status and was remodeled into the School District 6 Administrative Building in 2003. Today it includes District Administration, District Business Offices, Special Education Administration and District Technology Department.