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Minnesota's oldest continuously operating high school, St. Paul Central, celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. 

To commemorate the sesquicentennial, members of the current and former Central community started the new year with music and speeches. A proclamation from Gov. Mark Dayton declared it "Saint Paul Central Day" as students, staff and alumni from as far back as the class of 1945 looked on.

Central began in 1866 with about a dozen students. Now, it serves just under 2,000. 

"It always drew a very, very diverse population," says Principal Mary Mackbee, who has led the school since 1993. "From the black community of Rondo, the Jewish community of Highland, the rich community of Summit Avenue ... I think that's what makes us strong. We really are a cross-section of society."

The original school was located in spare classrooms of a Franklin Elementary in downtown St. Paul, according to its website. It moved several times before settling at its current location at Lexington and Marshall avenues in 1912. 

The building underwent an extensive remodeling in the late 1970s that made it unrecognizable to earlier generations of students and educators, but it never shut down during that construction.

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Central began in 1866 with about a dozen students. Now, it serves just under 2,000.

St. Paul Central, MN's oldest continuously operating high school, turns 150

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