Old Public School 52, undated postcard.

The first school in the neighborhood now known as Inwood was founded in 1858. The area was very sparsely populated when the three-story brick schoolhouse rose up at the corner of Broadway and Academy Street. The large modern building (with 14 chimneys) was incongruous with the needs of the neighborhood, which had few children, and those who lived nearby often spent their days working on the family land.

For the first few decades, only the lower floor was used. The "Tubby Hook" school (named for the early moniker of the area) was originally Ward School 52 before becoming P.S. 52 by the end of the 19th century. The old schoolhouse survived almost a century, eventually occupying the whole building, with an addition completed in 1903. For its last few decades, it stood side by side with the new P.S. 52 before being demolished in 1956 for a new addition to the 20th-century building.