St Mary's Greek Catholic School

When most of the population of the United States  thinks of schools and hospitals, we think of them as public institutions that have always existed and always will. The reality is that they both trace their origins back to the Catholic church in early ninteeth century. Nearly 100 years after the first parochial school was founded, St. Mary's Assumption of Trenton established a K-8 facility on a lot across Malone St from their house of worship. 

The school was built in 1921. The facade was made of buff brick with limestone accents, a common design choice for the time. It rose three stories on a linear footprint, with classroom space on the first two floors and a large "gymatorium" on the third. 

Everything about the facility was classic parochial school. It had 11 foot ceilings on every floor. Large transom windows sat above each door in order to encourage air flow on warm days. 

Like so many neighborhood buildings the school operated without much fanfare as the neighborhood evolved around it. A large arson attack destroyed the parish church in 1956, along with nearly a dozen others. It took three years to rebuild. During the rebuild process mass was held inside the gym. 

The school officially closed in 1999. Like many other catholic schools it continued to be maintained and used for parish activities. Since churches don't pay taxes, its easy for them to sit on property rather than immediately selling off or demolishing their empty buildings. This ended up paying off during the demolition and reconstruction of Trenton Central High School in 2015. Some students from that facility were sent to St Mary's until the new high school opened in 2019. 

St. Mary's parish took advantage of the recent refurbishment and ended up putting the building on the market immediately after Trenton Central reopened. It was sold the following year. The new owners immediately replaced the roof, but aside from that nothing happened with the building for another several years. Renovation work finally began in 2026 with the goal of reopening the space as apartments. The entire building was gutted back to bare walls, erasing the well kept 1920s floorplan. 

The building will undoubtedly be more productive as apartments than it has been for the last 5 or so years, so I'll count this as a win. 

Thanks for reading.

New Jersey Ave School

New Jersey Avenue School was built in 1925 to replace a smaller structure. The old school was racially segregated, while the new building was meant to be integrated. It offered kindergarten all the way through eighth grade. 

The building was designed to be open to the public for concerts and various civic events. Because of this the classrooms were all on one side of the building, apart from the gym and auditorium.

The 350 seat auditorium was beautifully decorated. The stage spanned almost the entire width of the room, while chandeliers hung from the ceiling. 

The gymnasium was tucked away behind stage.

Students from New Jersey Avenue were relocated to the new school on Pennsylvania Ave in 2012. The city intended to fix up the building and put it back to use, but before that could happen superstorm Sandy came through and flooded it. 

I pulled up to the school about a decade later at the end of a long day exploring around the state. I was tired and had no idea how I was going to get inside the building. To my absolute shock the main front door had a missing window just feet from the sidewalk. 

The city police were notorious among local explorers for their swift response to alarms, so seeing the easy access set my nerves at ease. 

The city left everything inside the school when it closed, and after the flooding during Sandy everything was deemed a loss. 

Power had been left on for several more years after the closure, powering the alarms and preventing burglars from getting inside. Unfortunately once it was cut the scrappers wasted no time ripping the place apart looking for copper. 

It was announced that the school would be demolished in 2025 and replaced by a new administration building for the Board of Education. A press briefing was held outside the vacant school featuring several lovely former staff members, as well as the scandal plagued superintendent of schools La'quetta Small. 

During the early stages of the demolition process the building was accidently set on fire by one of the workers. The blaze was so severe several local news outlets reported on it, which is how I found out the school was being demolished. 

The school is now part of a growing list of historic educational facilities demolished across the state in the last decade. I'm grateful I was able to see the building and document it so it doesn't get completely forgotten to time.

Mater Dei School

Mater Dei was founded in 1961 as a part of St. Mary's School. 

A second school building was constructed on the property in the mid 1960s to house Mater Dei. This was actually when enrolment in private Catholic schools had reached its highest point in the US. 

After the high point of the mid 1960s, enrollment in Catholic schools began to trend downward. This was especially true in New Jersey, where catholic schools began closing in droves by the 2010s. 

In 2017 it was announced Mater Dei was being eyed for closure. Local families were outraged, demanding the archdiocese of Trenton reconsider. They ended up raising over a million dollars, which allowed them to remain open.

The reprieve from closure was only temporary. Talks of closing the school  began again, and by the end of the 2022 school year it was finally shuttered.

In 2023 the school was used as the "principal photography location" for the Mean Girls revival. For those like myself who aren't familiar with that term, its basically where a majority of the filming takes place. 

Demolition was announced and began swiftly at the end of summer 2025. Once the building is cleared the land will be re-dedicated as Mater Dei Park. 

Eastside High School

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Woodrow Wilson School opened on the east side of Camden in 1930. The 29,300 square foot structure was actually built as a middle school, but it switched to a high school curriculum in 1933. 

The building itself was an interesting blend of gothic and art deco. The exterior of the school building was a stylish buff brick lightly decorated with limestone accents. The front doors were recessed behind three large lancet arches. Above the central lancet was a limestone carving of the state seal. Inside the hallways have tall ceilings and walls adorned with distinctively dark grey marble slabs. These corridors wind their way around an interior open air courtyard which allows natural light to fill the halls. The main interior architectural highlight for me was the large auditorium on the left side of the building. 

It wasn't until the 1960s that the large modern addition was built on the back of the school. The highlight of the new building was a massive gymnasium building. 

More classroom space was added a decade later along 31st st, which was the last major improvement the building ever saw. 

Woodrow Wilsons name was rightfully dropped from the school in 2020, during a long overdue moment of reckoning for racist historical figures across the country. Afterwards the school was known as Eastside High.  

In 2022 it was announced that the school would be entirely rebuilt, just as Camden High was five years prior. I was never able to get inside the old CHS before it was leveled, despite a few attempts. This one wasn't going to get the best of me. The building finally closed for good in 2024.

After nearly 20 years of exploring I've developed a strong sense of intuition with regards to timing and the best way to get inside different abandoned buildings. Eastside High was a tough one though. The first few times I drove around the building it didn't look like anyone had been messing with it. I kept my eye on the School Development Authorities website waiting for a demo date. Shortly after it was announced I made my way down south. I knew there was a dead end street that looked like it would be a decent place to get through the fence. Unfortunately for me there were two police officers sitting in their cars out front. 

East Camden isn't as tough as other parts of the city, and in the last decade the police have made enormous strides in repairing trust with the citizens. Calls to 911 are being answered and responded to swiftly. The sun was rising and I didn't have anything else lined up, so rather than burn a free day I decided to go for it. I knew I had to be fast and invisible on the approach.  Fortunately for me there was an enormous hole in the fence already. I climbed down using a couple large backhoe tires that were propped up against the wall. Since getting onto the property was so easy, I figured getting inside the building would be a breeze. However every single door and window was barricaded. Carefully I crept my way around the back of the building, through another locked fence that had a hole in it, trying every single door and window as the sun continued to rise. After noticing a new looking solar powered camera, I decided to take the L and try and come back at night. 

I got back to my car and noticed one of the police officers from out front was now driving around, looking at the property. I wasn't sure if it was just a coincidence or if I had been seen on the camera, but it certainly didn't help my nerves. When I came back that same night, those backhoe tires I had used to climb down were on the other side of the locked gate. I told myself it was probably just another coincidence. Through the second fence I went, back to a door that seemed like my best bet. Sure enough, the door opened up and I slid in. 

I was inside a locker room area for the sports fields out back. Unfortunately it quickly became clear there was no way upstairs. Once again I had to sneak back to my car and drive all the way home thinking about what else I could do to get inside. The entire front of the building was essentially off limits, as the police were always parked there. I was road tripping out to Cleveland the following weekend, so there was no way I was going to be able to try again for two weeks. It felt like they'd be so far along by then it wouldn't be worth the risk anymore. I spent more time that week thinking about Eastside than my coming trip.  

Cleveland ended up being amazing. I ran myself ragged exploring sunup to well past sundown, seeing pretty much everything I wanted to. I couldnt stop thinking about Eastside though. From where I was in Ohio, home and Camden were essentially the exact same distance. Before I even knew what was happening I was headed down 76 towards Camden, only stopping for coffee refills. 

By the time I made it, I had a new plan of approach all worked out. It pretty much depended entirely on tbe cops being busy, or at least parked further down the property than they had been. They were nowhere to be found as I made my way around the block looking for a place to park. After vaulting the fence, I rushed into the courtyard between the original building and the midcentury addition. After some creative move making, I was able to slip through a door and into the school. 

I was fairly certain I hadn't been seen, and I was also pretty sure the old cctv cameras and motion sensors were offline at this point. I just had to be mindful that those wifi cameras I had seen outside may also be somewhere inside as well. Carefully I made my way towards my main point of interest; the original 1930's auditorium. I hadn't seen any contemporary photos of it, so I was glad to see it was still in good shape. Next stop was the gym, which was actually being used by the construction crew as a home base. After a satisfying amount of time inside I packed up and headed to the exit, hoping nobody would be there waiting for me. 

Heavy machinery began ripping the building apart in June of 2025. A handful of relics were saved and will be reinstalled in the new Eastside building. As much as I hate to see a historic building get demolished, I am really glad the students are getting the brand new facility they deserve. So often these buildings aren't just old and poorly maintained, they've barely even been brought up to modern standards. This upgrade is long overdue. 

Joseph Battin High School

New Jersey is known for having some of the best schools in the country. Unfortunately we also have students learning in some of the oldest facilites in the United States. This is especially true in the northern portion of the state, with some structures dating back to the 1880's still in use today. Unlike many other public buildings which have been perpetually maintained and renovated throughout that time, our schools have largely suffered from deferred maintenence and slim budgets. One example of this was the Joseph Battin High School.

TFPNJ Postcard Archive

The school opened in 1889 in an old mansion on South Street. The building was donated by Joseph Battin, who had been the president of the Elizabethtown Water Company.

TFPNJ Postcard Archive

It wasn't long before the school outgrew the mansion. Designs were solicited for a new building in the early 1910s. A special building committee was assembled, including Richard E. Clement, the superintendent of schools for Elizabeth. The group decided the most efficient school design for the plot on South Street would be a "rectangular" plan building. The plan called for interior corridors, with classrooms being built with large windows along the outside of the building. 

TFPNJ Postcard Archive

The group selected Charles Godfrey Poggi to design the building. Poggi was a rising star in Elizabeth, having designed several churches and other public buildings around the city.  

Poggi studied other local schools for inspiration on how to best appoint the building. He close a tasteful buff colored brick with Indiana limestone trim. The pediment over the front doors featured several hand carved statues flanking the seal of the City of Elizabeth.

The main architectural highlight of the building was the central auditorium. It featured a large coffered ceiling with several skylights, twenty foot windows, and a balcony with seating for several hundred students. Extra plaster ornament was shoehorned inside every crevice and bare space to create an overwhelming sense of grandeur. The auditorium was a work of art. 

In 1929 the brand new Thomas Jefferson High School opened just a few blocks away on Elizabeth Avenue. Unfortunately the board of education couldn't come up with efficient districts by which to fill the schools. Since Jefferson had better "athletic and shop facilities", it was determined the boys would go there, and the girls could have Battin. 

One of the most noteworthy events in the facility's history came in 1952. A small plane failed to land properly at Newark Airport and crashed directly across the street from the building, narrowly missing the school itself. A number of homes at the corner of South and William Street were destroyed by the wreck. A young girl who attended the school at the time went on to have a sucessful writing career, even writing a book about the crash itself. Her name is Judy Blume, and the novel is titled In the Unlikely Event.

A large gymnasium addition was attached to the rear of the building in the 1960s, on land which one held houses. The new Elizabeth High opened in 1977, which closed both Battin and Jefferson. They did both eventually reopen as schools, but the story wasn't over there. 

Battin school was abruptly closed due to poor building conditions in 2022. An inspection had revealed portions of the roof were beginning to show signs of failure. Around the same time, the School Development Authority announced billions of dollars of planned upgrades to the states aging school buildings. Battin was quickly approved to join the list of facility replacements. 

When I first visited the building, I was suprised by how much the auditorium resembled those by my favorite school architects, the Guilbert & Betelle firm of Newark. It wasn't until later that I had uncovered an article which alluded to C. Godfrey Poggi visiting other local schools for inspiration on Battin. He certainly would have visited some of the amazing schools around Essex County, meaning my suspicions about the G & B influence were essentially confirmed. 

Unfortunately demolition work commenced swiftly on Battin. Thankfully the crew started with the more modern rear, allowing me to make a few visits to the school before it was demolished entirely by September 2024. The school was just one of dozens set to be rebuilt by the NJ School Development Authority over the next few years. Stay tuned for more stories.