About This School

Biography Information

Henry Warren Austin, Sr. was born on August 1, 1828 in Skaneateles, New York. He moved to Chicago in 1860 to accept a position in the Chicago office of a hardware company. In 1866 he established his own village, Austin, on 280 acres of land he owned, donating portions of land to the community for a park and public library.

As a member of the Illinois State legislature he introduced a bill to prohibit the sale of alcohol.

Henry W. Austin, Sr. and his wife Martha had three children: Henry, Jr., Edna and Hannah, who died as a child. Mr. Austin died on December 24, 1889, in Oak Park, Illinois.

School History

Austin High School started as the high school for the village of Austin in 1890, with 72 students. The first building was located at corner of Willow and Frink (renamed Fulton and Long). In 1898, and addition was added and the student body was 370 students. In 1899, Austin was annexed to Chicago and Austin High School joined CPS. In 1930 a new building is constructed and during the 1930's enrollment exceeds 8000 students, making it the largest co-ed high school in the world at that time. Austin High School has become a campus for small schools. In 2007, Austin Polytechnical Academy opened. The school also hosts Austin Business and Entrepreneurship Academy.

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