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Alumni

Baltimore City College, the third oldest high school in the nation, was founded in 1839. The school opened with 46 students on what is now St. Paul Place. A gentleman named Nathan C. Brooks was the first principal.

The school occupied various locations through the years, and underwent several name changes:
  • In 1844 the name was changed to The Male High School.
  • In 1850, the school became Central High School.
  • In 1866, the current name, Baltimore City College was adopted.
In 1866, the course of study was extended to five years. Another significant development occurred in that year: The Alumni Association was founded.

In 1870, the course of study was returned to four years. In 1877, it changed to five years again.

In 1875, the school moved to its first permanent building, on Howard Street, near Center. In 1892, that building collapsed when undermined by construction of the railroad tunnel under Howard Street. In 1899, a new building was constructed on the old Howard Street site. (This building still stands, bearing the school’s name. It has recently been converted to residential apartments.)

In 1911, The first Alumni Association scholarship was awarded. The Alumni Association has had periods of activity and inactivity since then. (Today, the Alumni Association is a powerful force acting to support the school and the students therein.)

“City Forever,” the school’s famous anthem, was written by Eugene W. Milby, Class of 1923, It has been heartily since then by generation after generation of students and alumni.

On April 10, 1928, City entered its current home, the “Castle on the Hill” and started classes. This began the period which is often called “the golden age of City.” In 1954, the school was integrated in a very peaceful process spearheaded to a considerable extent by the goodwill of the student body.

In 1966, the Baltimore School System, in an utterly stupid and malicious move, decided to make City a “zoned” school and end its status as a college preparatory school. The school closed a few years later.

In 1978, largely due to alumni efforts, City re-opened as a coed, college preparatory high school following a great deal of physical refurbishment. The Alumni Association was reactivated after much work by a small group of alumni whose graduation years spanned half a century.

Baltimore City College has been going “great guns” since the reopening and looks forward to marking two full centuries in 2039.