Rock Bridge High School, The Planetarium, Indiana Jones, Musical Theatre and NASCAR

Written By Matt Fetterly

On January 27, 1985, Rock Bridge High School announced it was erecting a new sign to help people find the 11 year old high school. The Columbia Missourian reported (on page 11) that the building was “hidden by a mass of trees” and PTA Treasurer Georgianna Garst said “there is a history of complaints from people who unknowingly pass by it.” Rock Bridge High School was built after overcrowding at Hickman High School in the 1960s. In 1968, the Columbia Board of Education purchased 42 acres on south Providence Road, although the site was just inside recently expanded city limits the board was criticized for choosing a location so far outside of town. When construction began in 1969 and for some years after, the school was surrounded by corn fields and other agricultural land. The first phase of construction was just 18 classrooms and an office space. The school opened in September 1973 with an enrollment of 583 in grades 10-12 and was named after its proximity to the Rock Bridge Natural Arch in Rock Bridge State Park. It was only the second centrally air conditioned building constructed by the district. In 1974, the Columbia Public Schools Planetarium opened inside Rock Bridge, a unique feature and possibly the only one in a school of any kind in Missouri. It still operates in 2023, hosting field trips and public shows about astronomy.

The Rock Bridge High School Building has been expanded many times since original construction. A west wing was constructed in 1978, adding 20 classrooms. In 1980 the Columbia Career Center, a separate building, opened next door, offering technical education in skilled trades and computers across Boone County. In 1992 a Performing Arts Center, with a 500 seat auditorium, was constructed and in 2000 a large addition and renovation effectively doubled the size of the building. Ninth graders were added to all Columbia High Schools, and a second gymnasium opened in 2013. Rock Bridge High School enrolled just under 2,000 students in 2022. In 2023, it is one of the largest high schools in Missouri and regularly wins state championships across a variety of sports.

A number of prominent alumni and faculty have been associated with the school. Kate Capshaw, star of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and wife of Stephen Spielberg, taught special education at Rock Bridge in the 1970s. Carl Edwards, NASCAR driver, graduated in 1997. Tim Wolfe, former president of the University of Missouri System, and Barry Odom, former head football coach at the University of Missouri are also alumni. In the arts, Tony award winning playwright J. T. Rogers and Broadway star Justin Bohon (son of longtime Rock Bridge choir director Bob Bohon) are alumni. Justin Bohon is the husband of Tony Award winning orchestrator and music director Stephen Oremus, who music directed Wicked and orchestrated Avenue Q, All Shook Up, The Book of Mormon, and Kinky Boots.

Rock Bridge High School under construction circa 1970

Posted by Nancy Obermiller Kiser on the Facebook group “You know you’re from Columbia MO when…”

The Rock Bridge High School Sign

Taken by Matt Fetterly on January 27, 2023

Inspired by the continued preservation of a 1970s planetarium, our group, CoMo Preservation, hopes to help homeowners, landlords, and institutions prevent the destruction of historic architecture. Original period styles might be replicated, but will forever lack the social history of authentic structures. The preservation of historic buildings is necessary for Columbia’s residents, students, and visitors to achieve a sense of place and, it follows, for our city’s continued economic success. If you want to join us in our mission sign up for our mailing list to receive news and updates.

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Matt Fetterly

Matt was born in Columbia, Missouri and is an 8th generation Boone Countian. He is an alumni of Hickman High School and the University of Missouri. Since 2011 he has worked for Shakespeares Pizza, as a truck driver and distribution manager, visiting and selling locally produced frozen pizza in all 115 Missouri counties, as well as Kansas, Illinois, and Nebraska. He is also a professional percussionist, working at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre since 2012, and has performed with the Maples Repertory Theatre, Central Methodist Theater, University of Missouri Theater, Columbia Entertainment Company, Talking Horse Productions, Maplewood Barn Theater, Columbia Community Band, Columbia Jazz Orchestra, Columbia Civic Orchestra, Columbia Chorale, The Tipper Gores, Columbia Handbell Ensemble, and the 9th Street Philharmonic. A lifelong love of Columbia inspired him to preserve a growing collection of over 170 books about Columbia and Boone County. A related project is preserving and cataloguing books and ephemera manufactured by the E.W. Stephens Publishing Company, once Columbia’s largest business. He specializes in local natural history, black history, indigenous history, lgbtq+ history, and cultural history more generally (particularly architecture, music, art, theater, and cemeteries). When not playing music or writing about local history, he enjoys hiking, caving, camping, and floating, in the forest and prairies of Mid-Missouri.

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