DANBURY SCHOOL’S NEWEST BUILDING HAS OLDEST HISTORY - Lorrie Halblaub

Part 2

The new Norton Center Field House building which was just completed in October, is now in use.  Games are being played on the two basketball courts and athletes are exercising in the new weight room. Every time anyone uses this building, students and visitors are reminded of the man it was named for, Fred Norton. Why the building was named for him will become clear when you learn about his life.

Marblehead Beginning

The Village of Marblehead had just become incorporated in 1891, when Fred William Norton was born there two years later, on February 3, 1893. He was the son of quarry worker Frank Norton and Catherine “Kate” Lynch Norton, whose father emigrated from Ireland. Frank was from Elmore, and Kate was born in Marblehead. They lived in the Jamestown area of the village.  Fred was baptized at the nearby St. Joseph Catholic Church, and he attended its Catholic School through 8th grade.  

Then Fred did something unusual for local males at the time.  Instead of quitting school after 8th grade and going to work, Fred went to high school. He graduated from Lakeside High School in 1912, one of a class of only 13 students. At that time, Lakeside High School was located near Lakeside’s south entrance parking lot.  It wasn’t until 1923 that Danbury High School was built at its present location a short distance west. Though he remained in school, Fred always seemed to have a job outside school hours.  One of them was providing music for the silent movies at the Marblehead Auditorium Theater on Main Street and he also acted in amateur vaudeville shows there.

While in high school, Fred became known as an outstanding student and athlete. Fred played football, baseball, basketball, and ran track. Right before he graduated, he participated in the first Ottawa County Track Meet on May 27, 1912. As a senior, Fred placed first in seven events and took four second places, making little Lakeside High School the first champion of the meet that continues annually to this day. 

Besides being an outstanding athlete, Fred was an outstanding student, earning a 4.0 average in high school.  Fred had ambitions.  He set his sights on going to college. After graduation, Fred began saving money toward this goal by working at the Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad Company ten hours a day, six days a week.  He repaired locomotives and motors, and cleaned cars. Records show he worked 7.5 hours on Christmas Day in 1912. Fred was accepted to Ohio State University in Columbus. At that time, there were only 6,000 students there.  Today, there are over 66,900 enrolled.

Fred’s parents did what they could to help, too. Ohio State found his father Frank a better paying job at the Marble Cliff quarry in Upper Arlington. Frank sold their house in Marblehead. He moved the whole family, Frank, Kate, Fred, and Fred’s younger sister Pearl, to Columbus so Fred could live at home and save the cost of room and board. At college, Fred decided to major in Forestry and participate in athletics. 

                                       Next Article: The Amazing College years.