WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
ST. GEORGE STAKE ACADEMY
St. George, Utah
LOCATION
TBDHISTORY
In 1871 local LDS Church authorities tried to establish a High School in St. George to be called St. George Academy. The effort failed as did several subsequent attempts in the 1870's and 1880's.In 1888 the St. George stake established an academy that met in the basement of the Tabernacle. A permanent teacher was obtained.
Plans were made for building a proper school in the northwest corner of the Tabernacle block and a quantity of volcanic stone actually quarried for the foundation. The building campaign stalled in 1890, however, and in 1893 the academy closed. The provision of free public schools supported by a county tax, passed by the state legislature in 1890, had led both teachers and parents to desert the academy, always stinted in cash-starved St. George.
PHOTOS
WCHS photos:WCHS-01467 Photo of the first graduating class of the St. George Stake Academy in 1913
REFERENCES
Announcement of the opening of the St. George Stake Academy on September 19, 1911Washington County D.U.P., " Under Dixie Sun - A History of Washington County"
p. 300