When settlers arrived in the area prior to Barberton’s founding, schools and churches were some of the first buildings constructed. An 1856 map shows the location of two schools in the area, one near the present location of the Indian statue and the other near Johnson’s Corners. Though several early schools were located on property within present day Barberton, these buildings, often one-room school houses, predated the city by many years. The original boundaries of Barberton during its village years encompassed a much smaller area than today, leaving similar schools just outside the village limits. Portage School, which would have stood in Portage or Indian Park today, was actually located in Norton; Riverside School stood on the Coventry side of the Tuscarawas River; and Cornell Street School lay just beyond Barberton limits across the street from the old Barberton Hospital. The first school to be planned within the city limits was located on the third floor of the Tracy Block built on Tuscarawas Ave. in 1891. Since then, many buildings have been constructed, expanded and demolished as the school district continues to grow and change. The following list, taken from Phyllis Taylor’s “100 Years of Magic,” presents a timeline of the dates construction began on Barberton’s many schools.