If you look at the name over the main door of the Senior Building at Holmes, it reads "Covington High School." After the school was moved to the former Holmesdale estate in the early 1900's, the name "Holmes" was added, and it became officially known as Covington Holmes High School. There had been three previous locations.

The history of the high school began in 1853 when Professor A. Drury opened a school for pupils from advanced classes of the common schools. It occupied one room in the elementary school on Scott Street. The annual report for l858 showed an average daily attendance of 85 students, by 1867 it was located in the First District School on Scott between 5th and 6th. The first graduate was Amelia S. Orr in 1869.

There is one mention in the Covington city directory of 1871 of the high school being located on the southwest corner of 4th and Madison. At that time it was known as Central High School.

In 1872 Covington High School opened in a brand new twelve room red brick building at l2th and Russell. Enrollment grew and by l880 was up to 172 pupils. In 1896 Covington High School was placed on the list of accredited high schools for Kentucky.

Even this new building became outdated In the speeches made to encourage the passage of a bond issue to finance the present high school, it was referred to as a fire trap.

The Holmes Estate was purchased in 1915 for $50,000 and construction of the Senior Building began in 1916. Holmes High School opened on January 6, 1919. the enrollment was 625 and there were 60 graduates that year.

More buildings were constructed; the Junior Building opened in 1927. The junior high had previously been located in the Fourth District School at l5th and Scott. The Administration Building was added in 1937*, the Science Building and David M. Evans Fieldhouse in 1967, and the Chapman Vocational School in 1950. Numbers of graduates have fluctuated from the lone Miss Orr in 1869 to 353 in 1971 to 203 for the present year.

The school itself has changed. Course offering has been updated to keep pace with current trends. The facility has been altered to accommodate the physically handicapped. The high school now has a wide range of programs for students from the severely handicapped through the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Degrees. While 5 courses were offered in 1867, more than 50 are available today The increase and decrease in the number of graduates reflects the population trends in Covington. There will probably not be another "Covington High School." Therefore, in 1987 a major renovation of the school took place which made Holmes a modern, lovely institution with a rich historical tradition.

By Betty Lee Nordheim '47 -- from the newsletter of the Holmes High School Alumni Association

*The site of the present Administration Building is where the Holmes Castle once stood. This image and the background photo on the Classmates Page were provided by Bernie Spence whose website of Northern Kentucky Views is at http://w3.one.net/~bernspen.