The Old Princeton School

The Princeton School is a former school building located in the Village of Princeton outside New Castle, Pennsylvania. It was opened in late December 1928, almost seventy years after the village of Princeton was founded. The school has been operated as both a high school and an elementary school during its years of operation. It is not to be confused with the smaller nearby schoolhouse known as the "Old" Princeton School. The building and surrounding property was purchased by Carlson Mining around 1977 for use as an office for its operations. The company also used the garages behind the school for storage. After Carlson Mining ceased mining operations, Jack Carlson (owner of Carlson Mining) began renting out the gymnasium and the old classrooms as office space.Years as a schoolThe building was erected in 1928 and served primarily as the Slippery Rock Township High School until the 1955, when the township joined the new Laurel School District. The school was then operated primarily as an elementary school in addition to several other elementary schools in the township. The school remained in operation until the construction of Laurel Elementary School which replaced the Princeton Elementary, Hickory Elementary, Harlansburg Elementary, and Eastbrook Middle School. The building and property was considered as a future location for the Princeton Volunteer Fire Dept., but was instead purchased by Carlson Mining circa 1977.Carlson Mining/Jack CarlsonFounded in 1963, Carlson Mining was a strip mining business with approximately 10 to 19 employees operating in New Castle, PA. The company's owner, Jack Carlson, purchased the abandoned Princeton Elementary School for use as a central office and equipment storage. After phasing out his Strip Mining operations, Jack Carlson began running a trucking service out of the building. He also began renting the building out to the public, and renovated two of the classrooms to be rented out as office space. The offices were used by ProTech Paving for several years.