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About 1860 an Oregon pioneer, Clinton Kelly
(1808-1875), donated two acres of land to what soon became
Multnomah County School District No. 2 with the stipulation
that the property would always be used for education purposes
or else it would revert back to his family or descendents.
That land today lies between Southeast 26th and 28th Avenues,
Powell Boulevard and Franklin Street. Clinton Kelly School,
which was made of logs, had already been built on the property.
The log structure was replaced by a simple wooden building,
which was torn down in 1893 when a more substantial elementary
school was built. This was done soon after School District
No. 2 was annexed to Portland Public Schools.
The school was enlarged in 1910 and 1912. By
1929 the elementary students had been displaced and moved
to Daniel A. Grout School on Southeast 31st Avenue and Holgate
Boulevard. The empty school building then became the temporary
home of the High School of Commerce, a school that has originally
been located on what is now the PSU campus. The High School
of Commerce was an independent high school with a focus on
business. Created in 1916 as Commercial High School, its name
was changed in 1917 to the High School of Commerce. In 1929,
this school moved across the river to the current Cleveland
High School site. In a dramatic show of transition, the High
School of Commerce students marched from the old site downtown
over the Ross Island Bridge, up Powell Boulevard, and into
the new location. The school’s name lengthened to Clinton
Kelly High School of Commerce, and in 1929 the cornerstone
was laid for a new, much larger building and the former elementary
school was torn down.
The high school, designated as a school for
students pursuing business education, gradually added courses
until it became a comprehensive high school in 1948. Again
the name was changed, this time following the practice in
Portland of naming high schools after United States presidents.
Named for the 22nd and 24th president of the United States,
it became Grover Cleveland High School. Its symbol, which
had been the STENOS (short for “stenographers”)
became the INDIANS. (At that time the Portland baseball team,
the Beavers, had the Ohio baseball club as its parent organization.)
The school’s newspaper, which had been THE BLOTTER,
became the THE TOMAHAWK and the yearbook went from THE LEDGER
to THE LEGEND.
In the late 1950’s the building was enlarged
to include the East Wing and the new gym. The site of the
old gym is now the CHS library. During the 1976-1977 school
year the Cleveland Mall was opened in the cafeteria, as Cleveland
High School became a business magnet for Portland Public Schools,
thus honoring its “Commerce” roots. In 1988 another
change took place: the symbol was changed from the INDIANS
to the WARRIORS, and the name of the school newspaper went
from the THE TOMAHAWK to the THE CLARION. In 1989, Cleveland
High School became the new home of Portland Public Schools’
only theater organ, the Kimball Pipe Organ, which had been
housed at Benson High School. The organ underwent a two-year
restoration, and organ concerts began in the spring of 1991.
Other additions over the years included a remodeled science
facility, the Student Services Center, the Cleveland stadium,
and the School Based Health Center.
Throughout all the name changes, different
buildings and other additions, Cleveland High School has remained
one high school in spirit with a long and happy tradition.
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