Old Town in Tallahassee in Leon County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Leon High School

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 6, 2014

1. Leon High School Marker

Inscription. The first Leon Academy opened in 1827, three years after Tallahassee's founding, and operated until the mid-1840s. In 1869, the Leon County Board of Public Instruction established separate schools for whites and blacks. In 1871, the county opened the Leon Academy as a public school for whites and, in 1885, constructed a two-story brick building on Tennessee Street between Duval and Bronough streets. The Board of Public Instruction passed a resolution in 1903 establishing a 12-grade high school known as Leon Graded and High School. A new school was dedicated on Park Avenue in 1911. On March 27, 1927, the Board of Public Instruction purchased 31.7 acres of McDougal Pasture for $22,000. Efforts by Mode L. Stone, Tallahassee's supervising principal of public schools, and a 1935 bond referendum and a loan from the Emergency Administration of Public Works led to the construction of the present school in 1936. Architect M. Leo Elliott designed the Mediterranean Revival/Italian Renaissance style building with its distinctive barrel tile roof with wide eaves and decorative rafter tails. The school had 50 classrooms, a cafeteria,

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kitchen, library and an auditorium. The new Leon High School was dedicated on May 28, 1937.
A Florida Heritage Site

Erected 2010 by the Leon High School Foundation and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-698.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1681.

Location. 30° 26.698′ N, 84° 16.477′ W. Marker is in Tallahassee, Florida, in Leon County. It is in Old Town. It is on East Tennessee Street (U.S. 90) 0.1 miles west of North Franklin Boulevard, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: East Tennessee Street, Tallahassee FL 32308, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Florida.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the

Leon High School image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 6, 2014

2. Leon High School

Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Erno Dohnanyi Residence/Dohnányi Erno ház (approx. 0.2 miles away); Governor William Dunnington Bloxham House 1844 / Governor Bloxham House (approx. 0.3 miles away); Rutgers House/Tallahassee Garden Club Center (approx. 0.3 miles away); Towle House (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Knott House (approx. 0.4 miles away); Leon County's American Revolutionary War Soldiers (approx. 0.4 miles away); Home of the John G. Riley House (approx. 0.4 miles away); John Gilmore Riley House (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tallahassee.

Another marker is no longer nearby. The Knott House (was approx. 0.4 miles away but has been permanently removed).

Leon High School Marker looking west on Tennessee Street image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 6, 2014

3. Leon High School Marker looking west on Tennessee Street

Credits. This page was last revised on February 12, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 9, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,916 times since then and 106 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 9, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.