FIRST CLASS: Akron High School, forerunner of Central-Hower, held inaugural graduation ceremony in January 1887.

Byline: Mark J. Price

Jan. 23--Every ending has a beginning. A long, steady march -- unbroken since the Victorian Era -- will come to a halt this year. Akron High School was the pride of the city when it opened in 1886 on South Forge Street between Union and College streets. Celebrated as Akron's largest building, the brick-and-sandstone palace covered 55,000 square feet and contained four floors. Its most prominent feature was a 160-foot clock tower bearing four illuminated dials and a 2,000-pound bell that summoned children to class. The Akron Daily Beacon heralded the school as the chief of Akron's glories and "a monument to the liberality, culture and enterprise of her people." Most residents simply referred to the $101,393 building as "The High School" because it was the only one in town. Akron's growing population, rapidly approaching 27,000, had demanded a modern facility to replace a cramped, two-story structure on Mill Street. In the new school, Principal Wilbur V. Rood presided over a teaching staff of about a dozen. Superintendent Elias Fraunfelter kept close tabs from his office in the basement. Average daily attendance at the…