Delmont was a center for learning in the early days when the town was known as Salem Crossroads and, later, New Salem.
Formal education began in 1800 in an old log school house about a quarter mile north of town in John McQuaide's field (later the Christy farm). For several years, different Irish schoolmasters taught there. It was said that "their love for education was exceeded only by their love of ardent spirits."
A 16- by 18-foot subscription school was built in 1815 with round logs and a clapboard roof. The only source of light was a single window. The course of study included the Bible, Goff's Arithmetic and Cobb's Readers.
The school district included what is now part of Murrysville and Washington and Salem townships. It extended from the McQuaide farm on the north to the Waugaman and Neudorfer farms on the south, and from the Riddle and Borland farms on the west to the Shields farm on the east. After the incorporation of New Salem in 1833, the district was reduced in size to include the borough and those parts of Salem Township within a radius of one mile from the center of town.
Delmont's public school history began officially with the acceptance of the Public School Act.
A piece of ground was purchased in 1836 at the site of the existing school building where a small brick structure was erected. It resembled today's building and included improved facilities such as slates, benches with backs and writing desks. Additional courses of study included the English Reader, Western Calculator and Cobb's Complete Series.
The New Salem Borough independent public school system was created by act of Legislature in 1854. It included New Salem Borough and part of Salem Township.
Then, demands for better facilities made it necessary to raze the small one-story structure and erect a two-story, two-room brick building, which stood until 1898. The new building was considered the best in the county outside of Greensburg. Geography and history were added to the curriculum; later, language and physiology were offered. It was the first New Salem School to include blackboards.
In 1871, New Salem changed its name to Delmont because of postal mix-ups with a town in Fayette County by the same name.
As the population grew, it became necessary to rent a vacant storeroom, and later the Methodist Church building across the street was used to accommodate the increased enrollment. Pronounced unsafe and insufficient to handle the increasing number of students, the building was torn down and replaced with another two-story brick building. G.W. Shaw was the contractor; the cost was about $19,000, including furnishings.
Delmont Public School was dedicated Dec. 9, 1898; Cyrus M. Christy was the first principal.
The new building was 34 feet by 74 feet and contained four rooms, four cloak rooms, two halls, a principal's room, two furnaces, an 8- by 8- by 12-foot high tower, and a play room and wash rooms in the basement. Artificial slate blackboards and single seats were innovations. By 1899, the curriculum included algebra, geometry, civil government, physical geography, mental arithmetic, Latin, composition, rhetoric and literature.
In the 1928 election, voters approved construction of a six-room addition. Work was completed in 1930, making a total of 10 rooms in the school. An auditorium, seating 400 people, replaced the town bank's hall, where public meetings previously were held.
When the addition was dedicated on March 14, 1930, A.P. Bierer was president of the board, C.J. Shuster, secretary, and H.A. Waddell, treasurer.
A junior high school program (grades 9 and 10) operated in the building until the late 1940s. Students went to Greensburg or Franklin for their final two years of high school. Tuition costs depended on whether you lived in the borough or Salem Township. Later, all secondary-school students attended Greensburg High School beginning with their freshman year.
Former Delmont Junior High student Bob Yaley still has his 1941-42 Delmont School yearbook, "Delmont Memories." Listed among the school's faculty are Dr. Carbus C. Magee, supervising principal and director of the school orchestra; Harry M. Ludwick, seventh-grade teacher and, later, a Delmont justice of the peace; Dora Jane Fennell, sixth-grade teacher and, later, a correspondent for the Jeannette News Dispatch; and R.J. Shields, president of the board of education.
The Delmont School song was published in the yearbook:
"Just above the gentle humming of our little town,
Rising toward the blue of heaven looks our high school down.
"Let us greet the white and crimson with a hearty cheer,
Let our hearts be ever loyal to our high school dear.
"High school memories can't be shattered, neither can they die,
Tho' afar we may be scattered, broken not one tie.
"Let us strive our school to honor, bear her standard high,
May her colors wave in splendor, Delmont Junior High."
Many memories were created in the old Delmont School.
Eleanor Jobe Kemerer attended Delmont School for 10 years. She recalls performing in plays and tap dancing on the stage in the auditorium, as well as playing basketball in the school yard.
"I attended first and second grade in a small, frame building nearby that was later moved to Freeport Street, and is now the Delmont American Legion," she said. "My dad, William Jobe, was secretary of the school board. When I graduated in 1937, the graduation ceremonies were held in the auditorium."
Many Delmont "old-timers" remember Alice M. Cowan as principal, a position she assumed in 1946. Other longtime teachers included Florence Shuster, Hazel Magee, Lucy Shreckengost, Edith Stiver, Bess Ramaley, Gail Nobbs and Josephine Cupp.
On July 30, 1956, the New Salem School District became part of the Franklin Area Joint School System. After the jointure, the secondary students from Delmont enrolled at Franklin, and some Franklin Township grade school students were then bused to Delmont.
The building continued to serve as a grade school until it was closed for good in 1983, ending a distinguished chapter in Delmont's history.
That could have been the end of the story; so many old school buildings have been abandoned or demolished after being replaced with more modern educational facilities. Fortunately, that was not the case here; the building was acquired by Delmont Borough, and the former Delmont Elementary School became the new Delmont Community Building.
It now houses the Delmont borough office, police department and Delmont Public Library, as well as several local businesses.
Today, Salem Crossroads Day Care fills the building with the sounds of children's voices, just as it was a century ago. The police station occupies the former school kitchen, and the old teacher's lounge is now the police department's exercise room.
The library moved into the building in the mid-1980s, providing a continuing educational presence. Dianne Rigby is the librarian; her husband, Ken Rigby, was the school principal when the Franklin Regional School District closed the building.
The Delmont School is a very sentimental topic among Delmont residents. The school auditorium served as the home of Scoutmaster Paul Kersten's Boy Scout troop for three decades. The same stage where Eleanor Kemerer performed as a student during the 1930s is now occupied by the children's library.
The 100th anniversary of the former school sparked the first Delmont Community Days celebration in September 1998. The event featured a parade, honoring Delmont's oldest citizens, and an open house at the school with a photo display and video presentation of Delmont throughout the 1900s.
Today, the building remains the center of the community, continuing to serve the public after many years.
