Lincoln High School
Postcard circa 1920
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library

Lincoln High School
Photo, A. Selvaggio, 2003

Opened in 1913, Lincoln High School, named for the sixteenth president of the United States, became the second public high school in Jersey City. It was started to accommodate the overcrowded conditions in the City High School (now Dickinson High School). The new high school occupied the abandoned Hasbrouck Institute building, formerly used as the Lyceum School started by William L. Dickinson in 1837. Commissioner of Public Safety Frank Hague in 1915 considered closing the school building, and other schools buildings, as a potential fire hazard to the student population. As a result of this concern, the current high school building was erected in 1917 and an extension added a number of years later.

To honor its namesake President Abraham Lincoln, a bronze statue, "The Railsplitter," was placed on a marble base in the high school lobby in the later 1930s. The seated figure of "a young Lincoln--sitting on logs, reading a book with a hatchet at his back" (Ken Thorbourne, Jersey Journal, February 5, 2004) was sculpted by Archimedes Giacomantonio and cast by the Cellini Bronze Works in Brooklyn, New York. Giacomantonio is also responsible for the sculpture of Christopher Columbus at Journal Square, dedicated in 1950.

For years, the statue received homage from the high school's students. Members of the athletic teams rubbed the head of the statue hoping to insure victory, and students pledging for fraternities were even known to kiss the statue. In 1994, the high school's "lucky charm" was stolen from the lobby and wound up in an antique store. After reports of the statue to local authorities, "The Railsplitter" was returned to the high school and re-installed in January 2004.

Reference:
Thorbourne, Ken. "Statue's Back at Lincoln High." Jersey Journal 5 February 2004.

By: Carmela Karnoutsos
Project Administrator: Patrick Shalhoub