For generations, the red-brick schoolhouse on Main Street has served as Wadsworth’s academic and cultural heart. Union School, originally erected here in 1870, gave way in 1907 to the sturdy building we know today, a structure that shifted gracefully from a K–12 school to a high school, junior high, and ultimately Central School as the city grew.
At its center sits the 900-seat O. J. Work Auditorium, a stage that has echoed with band concerts, class plays, and community meetings for more than a century. Now, after a comprehensive revitalization, this beloved hall begins its next act as the Celestia Theater—a name that honors one of Wadsworth’s own: Laura Celestia Spelman Rockefeller.
