McKinley Senior High School, located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on 800 E. McKinley St., is home to the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board's first gifted and talented high school programs. The school mascot is a Panther and the school colors are royal blue and white.HistoryThe original McKinley Senior High School is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some of the history that enabled this structure to be listed on the register is as follows: The forerunner of McKinley Senior High, was named the Hickory Street School, which was located several blocks East of the present site, in 1907-1908. The school outgrew the building, so the school was renamed The Baton Rouge Colored High School and moved to a new location. The Baton Rouge Colored High School was located on Perkins Rd. at Bynum St. in 1913. This facility was later struck by lightning and destroyed. McKinley is the oldest high school established for African Americans in East Baton Rouge Parish. McKinley’s first graduating class was in 1916. The four students became the first African American high school graduates in Louisiana. The original McKinley Senior High School building was erected in 1926-1927, and named in honor of the 25th President of the United States. The school opened September 19, 1927 on Texas Street, currently name Thomas H. Delpit Dr. The High School was moved in 1950 to a new facility at the corner of Louise Street and McCalop Street, next to the present day I-10. The Thomas H. Delpit Dr. facility became McKinley Junior High School. In 1962, the third and present day McKinley Senior High School was built on East McKinley Street, the Junior High School was moved to the I-10 site, and the Thomas H. Delpit Dr. site became McKinley Elementary. The original McKinley Senior High School facility on Thomas H. Delpit Dr. was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on November 16, 1981. The original structure was purchased by the Alumni Association from the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on February 5, 1992. The original McKinley High School building was destroyed by fire on July 3, 1998. SOURCE: McKinley High School Alumni Association Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Program, April 9, 2006. On January 14, 2016, President Barack Obama hosted a town hall at Mckinley High. This was the first time a sitting president hosted a town hall at a secondary school in Louisiana.
