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You're here: About the Old School – The Building At the time, a few Hillsboro residents questioned the siting of the new school. Some thought that the corner of
Sixth and Lincoln, near cow pastures, was too far from town! The city was growing, though, and soon the
neighborhood filled in with fine new houses. In addition, this was a union high school which meant that its
students didn't come from just Hillsboro. They also came from a number of surrounding elementary school districts
that shared and jointly funded the high school (this was long before the region's independent school districts were
all consolidated with the Union High School District to form the current Hillsboro School District 1J). Therefore, this
school was not the alma mater of just Hillsboro's students but also the students from other communities such as
Leisyville, North Plains, West Union, Orenco, Reedville, Witch Hazel, Scholls, Midway, Laurel and Farmington.
As a result, over the years, the School District had to make a number of additions to the facility in order to keep
up with population growth—and not just that of Hillsboro but the entirety of a large section of Washington
County:
The campus at 645 NE Lincoln Street served as Hillsboro High School (or, affectionately, “Hilhi”)
until 1970, when the last class graduated from the old building. In 1969, a new high school campus had been built
on SE Rood Bridge Road (again, on the edge of town) and, at this time, the Hillsboro School District began phasing
out high school classes at the Lincoln Street facility and started bringing in middle school students. The name
“Hillsboro High School (Hilhi)” was transferred to the new high school campus and this building, then
known as “Mid-High” for a while, was ultimately reborn in 1978 as J. B. Thomas Junior High (more
recently, J. B. Thomas Middle School).
James B. Thomas was a popular teacher in the district from 1942 until 1966 and, then, continued to teach as a
substitute for many years after retiring. He also led a Future Farmers of America (now, FFA) chapter and taught
vocational agriculture in Hillsboro for 25 years. According to the FFA, Mr. Thomas will always be remembered for
his love and concern for the community's youth.
However, times change. As the population of Hillsboro has continued to grow over the years (doubling
between 1985 and 2005), most of the city's expansion and new residential development has occurred on its
eastern side. One result of this population shift is a small student body at J. B. Thomas, relative to its building size.
Additionally, another middle school, J. W. Poynter, is located a relatively short distance away. For these reasons,
as well as a 2006 facilities assessment report showing the need for significant outlay in order to upgrade the
structure to current program standards,* the Hillsboro School District no longer considers this historic
building to be serviceable as a school facility.
In November 2006, the residents of the Hillsboro School District approved a bond measure, Measure 34-128,
which authorized the issuance of “general obligation bonds not exceeding $169 million to build, expand, and
improve facilities.” Since that time, the east end of the J. B. Thomas property—formerly an open
area of grass playing fields—has become the site of the new Lincoln Street Elementary School which opened
in the fall of 2008. This new school is currently in full operation, complete with parking and playgrounds. Next, the
School District plans to demolish the Art Deco-style, 1928-1929 high school building during July of 2009 and
replace it with fenced-in sports fields.
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In
1928-1929, the Hillsboro Union High School District built a new, modern high school on almost ten acres of land at
the northeast edge of town. The Art Deco style building was constructed of reinforced concrete, with large windows
to allow ample light and air into the classrooms, and incorporated into the grand, compound-arched front entrance
was the elegantly simple inscription “Enter to Learn.” The structure—which includes a 1,200-seat
auditorium reputed to have fine acoustics—was designed by F. Marion Stokes, a prominent architect with at least two
Portland buildings currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
[Street address redacted] • Hillsboro, OR 97124 • [Phone № redacted]