First Ward School

Ambridge's First Ward School was the third public school to be built in Ambridge, following Fourth Ward School and Second Ward School.

First Ward School, which stood on a lot in the 200 block that extended from Merchant St. to Maplewood Ave., was built between 1908 and the year it was first used for classes, 1910. At the time, the population of the southern end of Ambridge was increasing rapidly as workers moved into the area for jobs at the nearby American Bridge Co. plant.

First Ward School
Maplewood Ave. side

postcard

postmarked December 1910

While First Ward was mostly used as a grade school, Ambridge High School used the second floor of the ten-classroom building from 1911 until the new high school on Park Road opened in 1914.

First Ward School and students
Maplewood Ave. side

postcard

postmarked July 16, 1912

First Ward School
Merchant St. side
Daily Citizen supplement
August 10, 1929
Louis Vukovcan collection

First Ward School
Merchant St. side
Golden Jubilee Program
1955

First Ward School was closed in 1964 and razed soon afterwards. The school district allowed Ambridge Borough to use the school's site as a playground until 1985, when the school district "reclaimed" the property so the district could sell it to a car dealer.

These concrete steps and railings on the Merchant St. side, plus a bit of railing on Maplewood, are all that remained in 2014 as evidence that a building once stood on First Ward School's former site.

Steps and railing of razed First Ward School
March 22, 2014

Here's what the rest of the property looked like in 2014:

Site of razed First Ward School
March 22, 2014