When the Central Mine opened in 1855 the company used a building at the neighboring Northwestern mine as a school for Central children. By 1861 the school was serving 79 children, almost double the number it served in 1859. The school grew as the mine grew and was soon too full with 226 students in 1870. The original school house near the Northwestern property was supplemented by the use of two basement classrooms in the Methodist Church. In 1877 there were 288 students trying to fit into the old school house. The school had earlier begun to use the Methodist Church basement for classrooms and even that was full of students. The Central Mining Company decided to build a new school to house the ever increasing school population. The three story school building had four rooms each on the lower two floors and an auditorium on the third floor. It cost the company $7,500 to build the school which was designed to hold 350 students. It opened to a population of 305 students in 1878. In 1879 it served 352 students, just above the capacity for the building; however the average daily attendance for 1879 was reported as 221 per day so it is doubtful that all 352 ever showed up on the same day. The Central School served as a center for the community. The annual Methodist Church concert was held in the auditorium on the third floor. Plays, vocal concerts, and the Central Cornet Brass Band all performed in the auditorium. As the copper began to run out the mine began to lay off miners. The school population began to drop as men left to seek work at other mines. The school building was razed and much of its wood left Central to become part of other buildings in the Keweenaw (from "The story of the town of Central Mine," http://larrymolloy.com/OCC_Materials/CIS_1090/Sample%20Class%20Project%20F2009/school.html, accessed Feb. 2010).