ClassicSchools.com
Notes we don't want to lose about closed high schools

Madison Central High School — Madison, Wisconsin

Posted by DaveSanders | Wisconsin | Posted on February 3rd, 2010

(click image for Google Street View)

The Central Arch

Madison Central High School

mascot: Tigers
colors: Orange & Black

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We have done our own independent research on Madison Central High School, but there is probably nothing covered here (or at least covered better) than what you can find on the Madison Central High School History blog. It is a wonderful, thorough site. I encourage all alumni to explore it.
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Madison Central High School had its beginnings in a church basement in 1854. Originally named Madison High School, it moved to its permanent site on Wisconsin Ave. in 1858. In 1908 it moved into the building it would call home for the next 61 years. The name was changed to Central High School in 1922. In 1966, Wisconsin High School merged with Central and the school was renamed again, this time becoming Central-University High School. The school was closed at the end of the 1968-69 school year. In 1986, the building was demolished, leaving only the arch on Wisconsin Ave. standing.

Links
 

Athletics

Football
1897 – United States High School Football Champions (Detroit, MI)
1940 – City Champions, Big-8 Champions
1941 – City Champions, Big-8 co-Champions
1952 – City Champions
1953 – City Champions

Baseball
1949 – State Champions (Coach Gus Pollack) Madison Central 8, La Crosse Logan 6
1963 – State Runners-up (Coach Peter Olson) Kenosha 2, Madison Central 0

Basketball
1912 – State Champions (Lawrence College of Appleton statewide tournament)
1918 – State Champions (Coach G. A. Crispin) Madison Central 37, Watertown 17
1927 – State Runners-up (Coach Howard Johnson) Eau Claire 18, Madison Central 13
1928 – State Runners-up (Coach Howard Johnson) Watertown 27, Madison Central 14

Track & Field
1965 – State Runners-Up

Boys Volleyball
1949 – State Champions (Coach Gus Pollock) Madison Central over Belleville
1950 – State Champions (Coach Gus Pollock) Madison Central over Waukesha

Noted Alumni

Wisconsin Football Coaches Hall of Fame
Harold “Gus” Pollock coached high school football at Slinger (1934-35), Madison Central (1936-64) and Madison LaFollette (1965-75).
Gus coached for 42 years in the Madison school system. Most of these years were spent at Madison Central until the doors were closed. Teams at Central won “Big Eight” championships in 1940 and 1941. His teams won the Madison city championship a number of times. Gus also coached basketball and baseball. In 1949 his volleyball and baseball teams won the state championship. One of his most significant contributions was his efforts along with Willis Jones in the formation of the Four Lakes Football program in Madison. Gus retired in 1977.

Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame
Joe Franklin (Class of 1964) inducted as a player. Set scoring records at UW and in the Big-10.

Madison Sports Hall of Fame
Dave Kelliher was a basketball official for 32 years, sports coordinator for 28 years and nine-time letterman at Madison Central High School

Wayne “Knobby” Kelliher was a Madison Central alumni, football coach and baseball coach. Madison East’s athletics field is named after him, Kelliher Field. Wayne was the author of the book, Football Madison Style, a history of high school football in Madison, Wisconsin .

Wisconsin Soccer Association Hall of Fame
Madison Area Soccer Hall of Fame
In 1990, Graham “Gray” Perrett (Class of 1955) was inducted into the Wisconsin Soccer Association Hall of Fame. In 2009, he became part of the inaugural class of the Madison Area Soccer Hall of Fame. From Madison.com:

University of Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame
Eddie Withers played football & basketball at CHS, was a collegiate All-American in 1950 and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers.

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Hall of Fame
William Earl Schreiber played on Central High School’s 1897 National Championship football team and UW’s Big-10 Championship team. He later created the Athletics Dept. at Montana State University.

Is there a Physics Hall of Fame? There should be.
John Hasbrouk van Vleck (Class of 1916) won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977. During his long career, he was a professor at schools such as the University of Wisconsin, Harvard and Oxford.

John Bardeen (Class of 1923), former Dean of the UW Medical School, was a member of a very exclusive club: winners of multiple Nobel Prizes. Dr. Bardeen won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956 and again in 1972.

Stoughton Hall of Fame
Don Wahlin bought out his bankrupt employer and turned the company into Stoughton Trailers, eventually employing 1,700 people. He was the primary influence behind the development of the Stoughton Youth Hockey Association and the Mandt Community Center.

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