Monroe City High School’s Last Graduating Class’ Gift to Monroe

Back in 1931, Neville High School was being built. It would replace the old high school building which stood where Anna Grey Noe park is today. The old building was going to be turned into a grammar school. The last graduating class of 1931 wanted to leave a permanent record of themselves behind at the old school. The students raised money to buy a sundial to set on the grounds. On it were dedications to Mayor Bernstein, the school board, the superintendent and a plaque with the list of students from that class. More than twenty years later in the 1950’s, the building was going to be torn down. To keep it from being vandalized, the School Board moved the sundial to storage. There it sat for 10 years. After state officials decided the land would be turned into a park, the remaining alumni of the class of 1931 asked that the sundial be set back on the site. On September 19, 1974, [49 years ago today] the sundial was placed back and there it still sits at the corner of Wood and Jackson Streets, across from the St. Francis Hospital. You can see pictures of it here: https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm7HH0_Monroe_City_High_School_Sundial_Monroe_LA