A postcard depicting Northwood School circa 1943.
- Northwood was founded by John M. Hopkins in 1905.
- It was originally called Hopkins School and then renamed Lake Placid Club School for Boys.
- The Allyn Building, known today as “Main,” was dedicated in the fall 1912 and first used by Lake Placid Club School for Boys and later used by Mt. Mare School for Girls before eventually becoming the permanent home of Northwood School.
- Today, students are split into Peaks, but the first half of the school’s existence students were divided into two tribes, Senecas and Mohawks.
- In the early days of the school, fall and spring terms were spent in Lake Placid, whereas the winter term was spent at a campus in Coconut Grove, Florida.
- During these early days, the school paper was called The Migrator.
- Students were once permitted to smoke on campus. Students were allowed to smoke in a section of what is now the student center and in a lean-to that was affectionately called the “Butt Hutt.”
- Track and field, sailing, baseball, and football were sports once offered at Northwood.
- Northwood closed down for two years during World War II and the main building was used as a medical facility for wounded soldiers.
- Northwood officially went co-ed in the fall of 1972; however, the first female student attended Northwood in the 1942-43 school year, and the first female graduated from Northwood in 1943.
Thanks to Northwood School’s advancement office, as well as Mr. Steve Reed and Mr. Don Mellor, for their assistance fact-checking this article.
