Pictures of St. Anthony's High School
The Early Years
St. Anthony's High School grew out of the parish of St. Anthony of Padua which was established in 1849. Originally, it was a small gradeschool associated with St. Anthony's Church. During the first year they didn't have a school building, so the Sisters taught in an abandoned house which was once the head quarters for fur traders. In 1854 St. Mary's Convent School was opened by St. Anthony's Parish, with five school rooms for students, and a residence for the Sisters on the second floor. Sister Gregory LeMay, one of the original teachers, was the first Sister to receive the habit of the Sisters of St. Joseph in St. Paul. The school served children of any religious denomination, and coarses were offered in both French and English, to meet the needs of the people. The site of the orignial school was near where St. Anthony's Church stands today.
In 1880 St. Anthony's High School curriculum was inaugurated, and the first class of three young women was graduated in 1883. Although the three year diploma did not qualify students for college entrance, many students were addmitted by taking entrance exams. At that time it was uncommon for young people to go to college, but most of the St. Anthony graduates did. In 1915 the building for St. Anthony's High School was opened on the corner of Second Street and Ninth Avenue. The school remained at that location until it closed in 1971. | 