Jamaica High School, high school in Queens, New York City
Jamaica High School is a large brick building with limestone details built in 1927 on a hilltop in Queens, designed in an E-shaped layout with multiple wings. The structure includes an auditorium, gymnasiums, outdoor sports fields with a track, a basement swimming pool, spacious hallways, and a prominent stairway at the entrance.
The school was founded in 1892 and relocated to its new Gothic Drive location in 1927 as the neighborhood grew. It reached peak enrollment of over 4,000 students in the 1950s and was designated a city landmark in 2009, before closing in 2014 after more than 120 years of operation.
The school's name derived from the town of Jamaica in Queens, which was itself named after the Caribbean island. The campus grounds served as a gathering place where students from different backgrounds spent their days learning and socializing together.
The building sits at the corner of 167th Street and Gothic Drive and is easily reached by public transportation, including the nearby 169th Street subway station. The large campus spans about 13 acres and contains various facilities now used by smaller schools that share the grounds.
The building's entrance features a war memorial dedicated to alumni who fought in World War II. The copper roof has turned green over the decades, giving the structure a distinctive appearance visible from across the neighborhood.
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