21. Central School - 1907

The first government school at Broken Hill was established on this site in 1886, in a temporary wood and iron building.  

Sam Byrne [1883-1978], the Broken Hill naive painter and former miner, was one of the first students at the Central School. Folk historian that he was, Byrne recalled throwing pebbles at mining officials with his schoolmates during the Big Strike in 1892. 

The first teacher at the school was Jeremiah Boyle, and 191 students enrolled in 1887. The building seen today isn’t the original school building, though it is on the same site. The site has had several lives as a school. This structure was built in 1907 as an infant’s school and now forms part of the High School.

Audio transcript available.