HOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOL
buried in a family crypt in Metarie, La., a suburb of New Orleans. His home and part of his property became Holmes High School in 1919. “Dan Henry Holmes Reigned as Retail King,” KP, January 5, 2004, 5K. Gastright, Joseph F. Gentlemen Farmers to City Folks: A Study of Wallace Woods, Covington, Kentucky. Cincinnati: Cincinnati Historical Society, 1980. “Holmes Dead,” KP, July 4, 1898, 1. Nordheim, Betty. “Daniel Henry Holmes, 1816–1898,” NKH 8, no. 2 (Spring–Summer 1996): 28–38. “School Born of a Castle—Covington’s Richest Man Was Also ‘King of New Orleans,’ ” KP, October 17, 2005, 4K.
Joseph F. Gastright
HOLMES HIGH SCHOOL. Holmes High School, located along Madison Ave. in Covington, is a unique and historic school marked by classic architecture. When founded (long before it was known as Holmes), it was the commonwealth of Kentucky’s first public high school as well as the first coeducational public high school in the state. More than 150 years later, Holmes High School continues to provide high-quality secondary education. Its graduates continue to matriculate at some of the finest universities. Thousands of Holmes alumni have distinguished themselves in their professions and in ser vice to country and to community. Holmes High School, part of Covington Independent Schools, offers classes for students in grades 9 through 12. In 2005 the high school had 86 full-time classroom teachers and 1,057 students; the student-teacher ratio was 12:1, ranking Holmes among the top schools of its category in the state. Covington Independent Schools allocates about $4,760 per pupil for instructional expenses. Holmes, founded as Central High School in 1853, is the oldest operating public high school in Kentucky. The original school began with 20 students and was located in classrooms of the old Fourth District School at 11th and Scott Sts. in Covington. In 1872 it moved into a new 12-room building at 12th and Russell Sts. and was renamed the Covington High School. In 1919 the school moved to the former Holmes mansion, built by Daniel Henry Holmes Sr., who owned retail stores in Covington and in New Orleans. Holmes built the home of his dreams in 1866. Known as Holmesdale castle, it was a three-story, English Gothic structure with 32 rooms, patterned after a castle in Siena, Italy. Two large pillars guarded the entrance to the estate. Flowers, shrubbery, and large trees brought in from many parts of the world flanked the long driveway and concealed the home. Only the tower, which rose well above these, could be seen from the road. At one point along the drive, Holmes had a sign: “North, South, East, or West— Home is Best.” Below and to the east of the main house were a carriage house and stables—these buildings and the arcade leading from today’s Junior High Building to the Administration Building are the only parts of the castle still standing. Today the carriage house and the stables have been converted into a residence for the school’s custodian and his wife. Holmesdale featured a small
lake with an island in the center; the high school football stadium is now located where the lake and the island were. There were four cisterns placed around the building so that water would be available in case of fire. In 1915 Holmes’s heirs sold the palatial home to the Covington Board of Education for $50,000. The following year construction began on a new school building, which was completed in January 1919; at that time the students moved from the old high school building at 12th and Russell Sts. The cafeteria, the band room, and the bookstore were in the Holmes mansion. Gradually, because of its new location, the Covington High School became known as Holmes High School. In 1927 a new building for junior high students, designed by the Weber Brothers, was completed. Ten years later, in 1936, the Covington Board of Education decided to demolish the “castle” to make space for a new administration building. Students were given a chance to bid a last farewell to their beloved castle on a cold, windy Wednesday before the 1936 Thanksgiving holiday. Thirty years later, in 1966, a new science building and the David M. Evans Field house were completed. In 1980 the Virginia Chapman Academic and Vocational School was built on the campus; it merged with the high school in 2000. In 2009 the school’s boys’ basketball team won its first state championship. “New Junior High School May Open This Week,” KP, September 11, 1927, 6. Nordheim, Betty Lee. Echoes of the Past: A History of the Covington Public School System. Covington, Ky.: Covington Independent Public Schools, 2002.
Suzanne C. Wendt
HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CHURCH. The Latonia section of Covington (known as Milldale in the 19th century) was included within the boundaries of St. Augustine Parish (established in 1870) until 1890. Catholics from this southern reach of Covington found it difficult to travel to St. Augustine Catholic Church for Sunday mass. At first, the bishop of Covington, Camillus Paul Maes, did not agree with requests for a separate church in Latonia because the St. Augustine Church was facing financial difficulties. But with concern that the mostly German Catholic population of Latonia might lose their faith without a more constant presence of the Church in their midst, the St. Augustine Church’s pastor, Rev. Paul T. Abeln, agreed to the request of Latonia’s Catholics that a church should be built in their village. Bishop Maes finally gave his consent to proceed and put Abeln in charge of the project. Under Abeln’s direction, property in Latonia was purchased on Longworth St. (now Church St.) and the cornerstone was laid on August 24, 1890. The brick structure was near enough to completion for the first mass to be celebrated there on Christmas Day by the first resident pastor, Rev. Bernard A. Baumeister. On the Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross (May 3) in the following year, Maes officially dedicated the new church, named Holy Cross Catholic Church in honor of that feast day.
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After Milldale was incorporated as the city of Latonia in 1896, the parish’s population grew rapidly. The size of the church and the parish school, staffed by the Sisters of St. Benedict, soon proved inadequate. The congregation, led by Rev. John B. Reiter, who had begun his 34-year pastorate in 1898, decided to build a new church, rather than add to the old one, even though many parishioners were newcomers who had debt on the new homes they had recently purchased. The result was a large stone church across the street from the original building, designed by architect Anthony Kunz Jr. In elaborate ceremonies, Maes dedicated the new Holy Cross Catholic Church on November 29, 1908. Also participating were civic leaders and nonCatholic residents, who recognized that the presence of a Catholic church was a boon to the ongoing development of Latonia. The old church was then used temporarily as the school. With the assistance of a very generous anonymous donor, the heavily indebted parish was able to go forward in 1914 with plans to erect a new school. The Holy Cross Catholic Church managed to build a parish high school in 1930, also with the Benedictine Sisters in charge. After the death of Reiter in 1932, the new pastor, Rev. Louis Fey, emphasized education and worked diligently to update the facilities of Holy Cross High School, improving its science and music departments and its library. The high school continues today, although in 1986 it became Holy Cross District High School, serving students from several area parishes, rather than the students of Holy Cross Parish alone. The parish endured a dispute over a controversial renovation plan in the mid-1980s during the pastorate of Rev. Joseph Brink. His successor, Msgr. Elmer Grosser, oversaw a more modest painting and repair of the church in time for the centenary of the parish in 1990. Feldman, Jim, and Bev Lonneman. Holy Cross Centennial Book. Covington, Ky.: Holy Cross Catholic Church, 1990. Nieberding, Robert H. “History of Holy Cross Parish, Covington, Kentucky,” master’s thesis, St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., 1956. Ryan, Paul E. History of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky. Covington, Ky.: Diocese of Covington, 1954. Tenkotte, Paul A., David E. Schroeder, and Thomas S. Ward. To Be Catholic and American in Northern, Central, and Appalachian Kentucky: The Diocese of Covington, 1853–2003. Forthcoming.
Thomas S. Ward
HOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOL. In 1891 a grade school was established at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Milldale (now Latonia) and the Sisters of St. Benedict were retained as the teachers at the parish. After a major boom in housing began, a modern 12-room building was completed in 1915 at a cost of $36,000. Sister Lioba, O.S.B., started to accept a few advanced students into a high school program at the grade school. The first high school diploma went to Helen Pernice in 1921. Commercial and pre–liberal arts diplomas were issued in the 1920s.