Canisius History

This history of Canisius High School parallels the development of Buffalo, New York, in fascinating ways.  Take, for example, its roots in the earliest days of Buffalo’s Catholic past.  As early as 1848, the first Bishop of the Buffalo Diocese, the Right Reverend John Timon, C.M., wanted to establish in Buffalo a system of Catholic schools.  Having called on the Society of Jesus to help him alleviate a parochial problem at the Church of St. Louis, he had also struck upon the solution to his pedagogical problems.

In September 1870, the Jesuits at St. Michael’s Church on Washington Street opened a school adjacent to their residence.  In its first year, this combined high school and college dedicated to Blessed Peter Canisius served fifty students, some of them boarders who resided with the Fathers themselves.  In 1872, the cornerstone was laid for a new college building on Washington Street, the central portion of which was completed in November of the same year.  In 1883, Canisius High School “was incorporated by the State of New York as the Academic Department of Canisius College” (Hennessy 357).  In 1908, the boarding portion of the school was closed, and by September 1912, the high school served 379 boys.  In December 1912, Canisius College having moved into new buildings at Main and Jefferson Streets in Buffalo, the Washington Street school was turned over to the exclusive use of the high school.  In 1919, Father Robert Johnson “became the first rector of the separate high school community” (Hennessy 358).  In September 1928, the high school received an independent charter, completing its separation from the College (Hennessy 364).

By the early 1940s, the buildings on Washington Street were in considerable disrepair and no longer suitable for the 400-500 boys annually attending Canisius High School.  In 1944, the Jesuits purchased the former Masonic Consistory, which in turn had incorporated the former George F. Rand mansion, at 1180 Delaware Avenue.  Between 1944 and 1948, the high school classes were split, with the upper school students still attending classes at the Washington Street school and the lower school classes attending the new school on Delaware Avenue.

On August 29, 1948, fully a century after Bishop Timon had expressed his desire to see Catholic education thrive in Buffalo, New York, the Reverend John F. O’Hara, C.S.C., led a solemn procession through the former Consistory and into the new classroom building in order to bless it (Hennessy 352).  In September 1948, all students walked through the “big blue doors” at 1180 Delaware for the first academic year in which the school was unified in its new facility.  In 1956, a permanent Jesuit residence at the high school was dedicated and named after the two alumni who had generously donated the money to construct the building:  GeorgeM. Frauenheim and Edward E. Frauenheim, Junior.  Now, that building houses administrative offices and the faculty lounge.

Since 1948, Canisius High School has grown to an enrollment of over 800 young men.  Significant recent additions to the facility include the installation of an artificial turf surface on Tripi Field in 2000, the purchase of 63 acres on Clinton Street for an outdoor athletic facility in 2003, the purchase of the two houses adjacent to Canisius High School on Cleveland Avenue in 2005, the acquisition of 1193 Delaware Avenue in 2006, and the gift of a mansion at 891 Delaware Avenue from Mr. Michael J. DeRose and family in 2006.

Summer 2007 saw the groundbreaking for and first stage of development of the Canisius High School Athletic Complex on Clinton street. 

With the expansion of the school’s facilities, an exciting capital campaign is expected to launch in the near future, leading to a world of possibilities for Canisius High School, its students, faculty, staff, and the greater community.  Ad majorem dei gloriam!

Sources:

Hennessy, James, S.J.  A History of Canisius High School.  Vol. 83. Woodstock Letters: A Record of Current Events and Historical Notes Connected with the Colleges and Missions of the Society of Jesus in North and South America. Woodstock, MD: Woodstock College Press, 1954.  352-365

Kessler, Nicholas H.  The History of Canisius High School.  Master’s Thesis, Canisius College.  1948.