History

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

By 1872 the growing Richmond Hill community felt the need for a school and Albon Man donated the property at the southside of Hillside Ave. between Lefferts Blvd. and Beech St. now 120th St. upon which was constructed P.S. 8 the first school in Richmond Hill, NY which served the children until 1888, followed by P.S. 51 then called the Johnson Avenue School (118th St.) which is still located at 87-49 117th St. and eventually P.S. 56 which is still located at 86-10 114th St.

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.

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