Hillsborough High School (Tampa, Florida)

Hillsborough High School is a public high school located at 5000 N. Central Ave, in the heart of the historic Seminole Heights neighborhood, in Tampa, Florida. Hillsborough High is the oldest public high school in Hillsborough County, Florida.Hillsborough High is one of four county public schools with an International Baccalaureate program.History and traditionsHillsborough High School is one of the South's oldest high schools. Although mystery surrounded the beginning of the school for many decades, recently discovered documents preserved in the cornerstone of the HHS building of 1911 have confirmed that the school had its first students in 1882, and graduated its first class of four students in 1886 (Class of 1885–1886). Mrs. Mary Cuscaden was the first Principal. One of the 1886 diplomas is preserved in the school's vault. Until a second High School was opened, the school's correct name was "The Hillsborough County High School". The first new HHS building was funded out of the savings from the general school fund. After the freeze of 1895, by careful management, money was saved and the first county high school was erected. At a contract price of $5,100, a well-planned, two-story wooden building with science laboratories, a library and an auditorium was built large enough to accommodate as many as 250 high school students. Once the first free standing HHS school location was out grown, a new home was sought, which is now referred to as the Old Hillsborough High School, to replace it, and was built in 1911 on a design by Wilson Potter of New York. It was expanded in 1923 according to designs by M. Leo Elliott. Hillsborough High School moved into its present-day home, a gothic architectural design by Francis J. Kennard, which was completed and has been the school's home since 1928.