The History of School District 104
School District 104 was Established in 1871 …
FIRST SUMMIT SCHOOL. As early as 1846, this old canal boarding house was used as a school. Pictured in 1906, the two-story frame building was on the property of Otis P. Graves, school board president. The building was gone by 1911
SECOND SUMMIT SCHOOL. In 1866, a tract of land was purchased from the estate of Peter Kern at Archer Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street. By the late 1800s, a wooden school building had been built. Pictured is the Summit School class of 1891
THIRD SUMMIT SCHOOL. In 1904, a new schoolhouse was built. Facing Archer and Fifty-sixth Place and Fifty-seventh Street, it was a hexagon-shaped brick building, which included a central hall and eight classrooms. Discontinued as a schoolhouse by the mid-1930s, the structure became a community building and youth recreation center called the Teen Inn
As the Population Increases District 104 Expands …
ARGO SCHOOL. Now Donald Wharton Elementary School: Dr. Donald Wharton was the principal of this school for many years, and the building was renamed in his honor in 1981. Argo School was the first-grade school in Argo. The district purchased the land from the CT&C in 1911, and the school opened in August 1912. Many additions were made to the school over the years to accommodate population increases, including a second floor. In 2004, this became the site of the district’s fifth-grade center, which allowed all students from the district to join and attend a building in preparation for the transition to middle school. It was transitioned back to a K - 5th grade school in 2023. Pictured is the original building and the most recent rendering of the building. A secure entrance addition was added to the building in the summer of 2023.
WALSH SCHOOL. To ease classroom overcrowding, in 1923, the board built a new building in 1922 behind the Summit School on the east side of the block and named it after John D. Walsh. Walsh was the village’s first police and fire marshal. He was also on the first public school board, serving from 1901 to 1934. It became the school for sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students and was built to alleviate overcrowding and fix the issue of children having to cross the fifty-ninth street track
OTIS P. GRAVES SCHOOL. Otis P Graves Dual Language School was founded in 1924 and named after Otis P. Graves, a school board member from 1880 to 1914 and an early village trustee. The school was built to alleviate overcrowding, it housed both an elementary school and a junior high. The original structure once faced 7336 Sixtieth Street, but future additions caused a vacation of the roadway
The administrative building attached to Otis P. Graves School was named after Superintendent James C. Wrenn in 1986
A Middle School is Established in the District…
HERITAGE MIDDLE SCHOOL. Heritage Middle School, which was formerly known as Graves Junior High School, was renamed in honor of the Heritage Corridor in 2001. The Heritage Corridor stretches between the Illinois River and Lake Michigan. The name Heritage Corridor refers to the Illinois and Michigan Canal Heritage Corridor. Established in 1984. The Illinois and Michigan Canal crossed the Chicago Portage and helped establish Chicago as the transportation hub of the United States, before the railroad era. It is a historical landmark for the Chicago area, especially the suburbs. School District 104 wanted to name this school after a historical landmark rather than a historical person. The name change would differentiate the middle school from the elementary school.
Graves Junior High originally held only 7th and 8th graders, but in 2001 along with the name change, it also adopted a middle school approach by adding 6th graders to the school, transitioning it from a junior high to a middle school. The School Board selected the name “Heritage Middle School” on January 16th, 2001; on May 23rd, 2001, Heritage Middle School held its first open house under the new name.
School District 104 Continues to Grow ...
W.W. WALKER SCHOOL. Walker is the newest school in Cook County School District 104. Located in Bedford Park, the school has been a mainstay in the community since it was built in 1934. The school was named after a former board member, W.W. Walker, who was appointed Chief of Summit Fire Department in 1917. Cook County School District 104 nmed this building after W.W. Walker to honor his service to the district's staff, students, and families. The first Village of Bedford Park meetings were held at Walker School. A secure entrance addition was added to the building in the summer of 2023.
COOK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT 104 ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING. School District 104 finalized the purchase of three vacant properties located on the corner of Sixty-third and Seventy-fifth Avenue on August 12th, 2022. The administrative building would be built to create more space for students and classrooms at Otis P. Graves Dual Language School, while also generating security for the students. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new administrative building was held on May 20th, 2023
