Phoenix Union High School
Encyclopedia
Phoenix Union High School was the main high school for Phoenix, Arizona
, at 7th Street and Van Buren Avenue. It closed in 1982 amidst declining enrollment, along with East High School
and West High School
. It is the namesake of the still-extant Phoenix Union High School District
.
The mascot was the Coyotes. The school's athletic programs combined won over 100 Arizona state championships.
Braves was played; the tradition continued for 46 years. In 1917, Phoenix Union became a pioneer in military training when the first high school Junior ROTC program in the United States was created. Further overcrowding by 1920 (the fire escapes were even crowded, with approaches used as class space) led to the approval of the construction of three more buildings.
A new stadium was built in the mid-1920s and dedicated in 1927, and the auditorium was remodeled in the late 1920s after a 1927 fire. By 1928, PUHS had 2,500 students, with major growth predicted. 1930 brought the installation of lights to the football stadium — just in time for an undefeated football season in 1930. In the 1930s, despite the Great Depression, the forecasts of larger enrollment proved true, as the student population bulged over 5,000 students at one time. By 1938, there were 4,219 students at Phoenix Union High School.
In 1935, the Arizona Vocational School opened at 6th Street and Monroe to provide technical education skills.
The second high school in the district was opened in 1939, when North High School
opened its doors. At the same time, a new gymnasium was opened at Phoenix Union, which was first used in 1941 as the student body listened to President Roosevelt's declaration of war. 1,517 students originally attended North, and the Thanksgiving game (beginning in 1941) was now played against that high school. The tradition would continue until 1960. (Because of earlier school starts, regular-season football in Arizona is usually played from late August to late October, with playoff matches in November.)
After World War II, the population of Phoenix began to approach 100,000. In 1946, a bond issue was passed to build a new high school (West High School) and to update the Phoenix Technical School (as the Vocational School was now called). The Churchill Building came down in 1949 to make way for a new cafeteria.
The 1950s were the pinnacle of the Coyotes' athletic achievements. The varsity basketball team won 55 straight games over three seasons; the school won championships in all major sports; and the City of Phoenix grew and grew, exploding in population from 106,818 to 439,170. In 1954, Camelback High School
and South Mountain High School
were opened; in 1955, the technical school was folded back into Phoenix Union. More schools would open in Phoenix Union in the next years: Carl Hayden Community High School
and Central High School
opened in 1957, followed by Alhambra High School
in 1962 and Maryvale High School
in 1963.
1953 was another year of change, as the Superior Court in Phoenix struck down Arizona's latest segregation law for delegating the powers of the legislature (it made segregation a local option). When classes at Phoenix Union started in September 1953, they did so with 74 Black students (54 freshmen and 20 from the old Carver High School
; Carver would be closed after 1954).
As the city of Phoenix grew, many more of its high school age students went to Phoenix Union. But by the early 1960s, with the Baby Boom age at its height, this was creating severe overcrowding. The largest ever student enrollment at one high school in Arizona was recorded at Phoenix Union in the 1963-64 school year, with 6,320 students. (School sizes have only shrunk since then; the largest high school in Arizona is Mesa's Red Mountain High School
, with 3,442 students including the 9th graders in feeder high schools.)
The Phoenix Union student body finally began to shrink at the same time that it began to be composed of more minorities. In one decade's time, Phoenix Union had shrunk from its all-time high student enrollment to just 1,860 students. At its closure, enrollment had shrunk to a mere 1,200 students. A new building for the vocational center and some replacement structures were built in the late 1960s.
In the spring of 1982, the Governing Board of the Phoenix Union High School District marked East and Phoenix Union for closure.
. They comprise the Phoenix Union High School Historic District. The campus was sold in 1985 to a developer, and some portions were occupied by offices while others were demolished due to inconsistent design or vandalism.
In 2007, the University of Arizona
College of Medicine
renovated and expanded the buildings to accommodate its new Phoenix medical school campus.
In 1930, the "Wonder Team" finished with a 13-0 record. After beating Tucson High School
in the final game of the season, one wire service named the team national champions. Conrad Flippen, a member of the Arizona High School Sports Hall of Fame, four-sport star at the school and member of the "Wonder Team", went on to play at the University of Notre Dame
and Phoenix College
before playing and coaching in minor league baseball. In the final game of the 1930 season, Flippen set a state record with 303 rushing yards.
Other players set state records as well. George Greathouse transferred from the all-Black Carver High School
upon integration. His career touchdown record of 63 (37 of which were scored with the Coyotes) lasted from his 1953 graduation until 1986.
Montgomery Stadium
, the football stadium at Phoenix Union with a capacity of 23,000, hosted the NCAA Salad Bowl
from 1948 to 1952.
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, at 7th Street and Van Buren Avenue. It closed in 1982 amidst declining enrollment, along with East High School
East High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
East High School was the high school for east Phoenix, Arizona, on 48th Street near Roosevelt Street. It opened in the fall of 1964 and closed in 1982 amidst sharply declining enrollment.-History:...
and West High School
West High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
West High School was the high school for the western portion of Phoenix, Arizona. It opened in 1949 and closed in 1983 amidst declining enrollment. The mascot was the Thunderbirds; colors were maroon and white.-History:...
. It is the namesake of the still-extant Phoenix Union High School District
Phoenix Union High School District
The Phoenix Union High School District is a school district based in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is one of the state's oldest school districts and its largest high school-only district, serving 26,000 students in 17 schools and employing more than 2,800 people...
.
The mascot was the Coyotes. The school's athletic programs combined won over 100 Arizona state championships.
History
The high school and its district were created in 1895. Classes started on the second floor of the Central School Building, on the present site of the San Carlos Hotel; they moved to the Churchill Residence, a Victorian house at 5th Street and Van Buren. By 1910, Phoenix Union had 300 students; the city of Phoenix at the time had more than 11,000 residents. That year, a bond issue was approved to begin building three new high school buildings, and in 1912, construction began. In 1912, the first Thanksgiving football game against the Phoenix Indian SchoolPhoenix Indian School
The Phoenix Indian School, or Phoenix Indian High School in its later years, was a Bureau of Indian Affairs-operated school in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona. It was mostly a high school, but it served lower grades from 1891 to 1935. It opened in 1891 and closed in 1990 at the orders of the federal...
Braves was played; the tradition continued for 46 years. In 1917, Phoenix Union became a pioneer in military training when the first high school Junior ROTC program in the United States was created. Further overcrowding by 1920 (the fire escapes were even crowded, with approaches used as class space) led to the approval of the construction of three more buildings.
A new stadium was built in the mid-1920s and dedicated in 1927, and the auditorium was remodeled in the late 1920s after a 1927 fire. By 1928, PUHS had 2,500 students, with major growth predicted. 1930 brought the installation of lights to the football stadium — just in time for an undefeated football season in 1930. In the 1930s, despite the Great Depression, the forecasts of larger enrollment proved true, as the student population bulged over 5,000 students at one time. By 1938, there were 4,219 students at Phoenix Union High School.
In 1935, the Arizona Vocational School opened at 6th Street and Monroe to provide technical education skills.
The second high school in the district was opened in 1939, when North High School
North High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
North High School is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. The campus is located at 1101 East Thomas Road north of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, USA. North’s enrollment is 2600 students. The school predominantly serves students from partner elementary districts Madison, Osborn, Creighton...
opened its doors. At the same time, a new gymnasium was opened at Phoenix Union, which was first used in 1941 as the student body listened to President Roosevelt's declaration of war. 1,517 students originally attended North, and the Thanksgiving game (beginning in 1941) was now played against that high school. The tradition would continue until 1960. (Because of earlier school starts, regular-season football in Arizona is usually played from late August to late October, with playoff matches in November.)
After World War II, the population of Phoenix began to approach 100,000. In 1946, a bond issue was passed to build a new high school (West High School) and to update the Phoenix Technical School (as the Vocational School was now called). The Churchill Building came down in 1949 to make way for a new cafeteria.
The 1950s were the pinnacle of the Coyotes' athletic achievements. The varsity basketball team won 55 straight games over three seasons; the school won championships in all major sports; and the City of Phoenix grew and grew, exploding in population from 106,818 to 439,170. In 1954, Camelback High School
Camelback High School
Camelback High School is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. The campus is located at 4612 North 28th Street, northeast of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Camelback’s enrollment is 2,000 students, over 75 percent of whom are Hispanic...
and South Mountain High School
South Mountain High School
South Mountain High School is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. The campus is located at 5401 South 7th Street in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. South Mountain’s enrollment is 2000 students...
were opened; in 1955, the technical school was folded back into Phoenix Union. More schools would open in Phoenix Union in the next years: Carl Hayden Community High School
Carl Hayden High School
Carl T. Hayden Community High School is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. The campus is located at 3333 W. Roosevelt Street just west of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Carl Hayden’s enrollment is 2,249 students, over 90 percent of whom are Hispanic...
and Central High School
Central High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
Central High School is a high school in the Phoenix Union High School District, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.The campus is located at 4525 North Central Avenue, just north of downtown. Central’s enrollment is 2315 students. Over 60 percent of the population is Hispanic...
opened in 1957, followed by Alhambra High School
Alhambra High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
Alhambra High School is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. The campus is located at 3839 West Camelback Road, northwest of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Alhambra's enrollment is 2900 students, just under 80 percent of whom are Hispanic...
in 1962 and Maryvale High School
Maryvale High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
Maryvale High School is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. The campus is located at 3415 North 59th Avenue northwest of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Maryvale’s enrollment is 2624 students, over 90 percent of whom are Hispanic...
in 1963.
1953 was another year of change, as the Superior Court in Phoenix struck down Arizona's latest segregation law for delegating the powers of the legislature (it made segregation a local option). When classes at Phoenix Union started in September 1953, they did so with 74 Black students (54 freshmen and 20 from the old Carver High School
Carver High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
Carver High School, formerly known as Phoenix Union Colored High School and as George Washington Carver High School, is a former school in Phoenix, Arizona that served African-American students until the integration of schools in 1954...
; Carver would be closed after 1954).
As the city of Phoenix grew, many more of its high school age students went to Phoenix Union. But by the early 1960s, with the Baby Boom age at its height, this was creating severe overcrowding. The largest ever student enrollment at one high school in Arizona was recorded at Phoenix Union in the 1963-64 school year, with 6,320 students. (School sizes have only shrunk since then; the largest high school in Arizona is Mesa's Red Mountain High School
Red Mountain High School
Red Mountain High School is a secondary school in Mesa, Arizona. It opened in 1988, with Robert Free the founding principal.-Athletics:-Notable alumni:*Brian Jennings - NFL player*Vance Wilson - MLB player...
, with 3,442 students including the 9th graders in feeder high schools.)
The Phoenix Union student body finally began to shrink at the same time that it began to be composed of more minorities. In one decade's time, Phoenix Union had shrunk from its all-time high student enrollment to just 1,860 students. At its closure, enrollment had shrunk to a mere 1,200 students. A new building for the vocational center and some replacement structures were built in the late 1960s.
In the spring of 1982, the Governing Board of the Phoenix Union High School District marked East and Phoenix Union for closure.
Reuse
In the week of July 11, 1982, the older parts of the campus (as it existed in 1928) were listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. They comprise the Phoenix Union High School Historic District. The campus was sold in 1985 to a developer, and some portions were occupied by offices while others were demolished due to inconsistent design or vandalism.
In 2007, the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
College of Medicine
University of Arizona College of Medicine
The University of Arizona College of Medicine is the only MD granting medical school in the state of Arizona. It has two campuses: the Tucson campus is located at the Arizona Health Sciences Center and University Medical Center, and the Phoenix campus is located at the historic Phoenix Union High...
renovated and expanded the buildings to accommodate its new Phoenix medical school campus.
Football
Coyote football represented the state's most dominant high school sports program. It won 25 titles in its existence — sixth-most among American high schools — and it won nine straight state titles from 1920 to 1928 (though there were no state championship games until 1959), the third-best run in American history.In 1930, the "Wonder Team" finished with a 13-0 record. After beating Tucson High School
Tucson High Magnet School
Tucson High Magnet School , commonly referred to as THMS, THS, Tucson High, and Tucson Magnet, is a 2009 Performing Plus Tucson public high school and is part of the Tucson Unified School District with magnet programs in Science, Mathematics, Technology, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts...
in the final game of the season, one wire service named the team national champions. Conrad Flippen, a member of the Arizona High School Sports Hall of Fame, four-sport star at the school and member of the "Wonder Team", went on to play at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
and Phoenix College
Phoenix College
Phoenix College is a community college located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country....
before playing and coaching in minor league baseball. In the final game of the 1930 season, Flippen set a state record with 303 rushing yards.
Other players set state records as well. George Greathouse transferred from the all-Black Carver High School
Carver High School (Phoenix, Arizona)
Carver High School, formerly known as Phoenix Union Colored High School and as George Washington Carver High School, is a former school in Phoenix, Arizona that served African-American students until the integration of schools in 1954...
upon integration. His career touchdown record of 63 (37 of which were scored with the Coyotes) lasted from his 1953 graduation until 1986.
Montgomery Stadium
Montgomery Stadium
Montgomery Stadium was a multi-use stadium in Phoenix, Arizona that hosted the Salad Bowl from 1948 to 1952. Its capacity was 23,000 people, and it was located on the Phoenix Union High School campus.-References:...
, the football stadium at Phoenix Union with a capacity of 23,000, hosted the NCAA Salad Bowl
Salad Bowl
Salad Bowl can refer to the following:* Salad bowl , a cultural idea referring to the United States* Salad Bowl , a defunct, annual, post-season college football bowl game...
from 1948 to 1952.
Notable alumni
- Oscar Palmer AustinOscar P. AustinPrivate First Class Oscar Palmer Austin was a United States Marine who posthumously received his nation's highest military honor — the Medal of Honor — for heroism and sacrifice of his own life in Vietnam in February 1969.-Biography:Austin was born on January 15, 1949, in Nacogdoches,...
, posthumous recipient of the Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
after dying in Vietnam in 1969 - Fred Carr, Green Bay PackersGreen Bay PackersThe Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
linebacker 1968-77 - Jack ElamJack ElamWilliam Scott "Jack" Elam was an American film actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies .-Early life:...
, actor in Western films including Gunfight at the O.K. CorralGunfight at the O.K. CorralThe Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother... - Bennie GonzalesBennie GonzalesBennie M. Gonzales, FAIA was an US architect known for a distinctive style of Southwestern architecture which has since been widely copied. Gonzales designed most of Scottsdale, Arizona's, major municipal buildings including Scottsdale City Hall, the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and...
, designer of several local landmarks and municipal buildings in the Phoenix area - Jim HensleyJim HensleyJames Willis "Jim" Hensley was an American businessman in the beer industry.Hensley was born in Texas and moved to Arizona during his youth. He was a bombardier on B-17 Flying Fortresses during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross...
, founder of the Hensley & Co.Hensley & Co.Hensley & Co., also known as Hensley Beverage Company, is an Anheuser-Busch beer wholesaler and distributor headquartered in the West Phoenix area of Phoenix, Arizona. It markets to the Phoenix, Tempe, and Prescott Valley areas. It is the third-largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in the United...
beer distributorship - Bill KajikawaBill KajikawaBill Kajikawa was the head men's basketball coach at Arizona State University from 1949 to 1957. He attended Phoenix Union High School, and played football at Arizona State. During World War II Kajikawa was a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team...
, Arizona State UniversityArizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
football player and men's basketball coach - Frank LukeFrank LukeFrank Luke Jr. was an American fighter ace, ranking second among U.S. Army Air Service pilots after Captain Eddie Rickenbacker in number of aerial victories during World War I . Frank Luke was the first airman to receive the Medal of Honor...
, the first airman to receive the Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
and namesake of Luke Air Force BaseLuke Air Force BaseLuke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located seven miles west of the central business district of Glendale, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is also about west of Phoenix, Arizona.... - Paul NelsonPaul Nelson (composer)Paul Nelson was an American musician and composer. His compositions—in all genres except opera—have been performed on four continents.-Life:...
, opera composer - Lincoln RagsdaleLincoln RagsdaleLincoln Johnson Ragsdale, Sr. was an influential leader in the Phoenix-area African-American Civil Rights Movement...
, locally important African-American civil rights activist
See also
- Carver High School (Phoenix, Arizona)Carver High School (Phoenix, Arizona)Carver High School, formerly known as Phoenix Union Colored High School and as George Washington Carver High School, is a former school in Phoenix, Arizona that served African-American students until the integration of schools in 1954...
, formerly known as Phoenix Union Colored High School, also NRHP-listed