District No. 5 School (Shrewsbury, Massachusetts)

Last updated
District No. 5 School
District No. 5 School.jpg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location2 Old Mill Road,
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°17′29″N71°44′29″W / 42.29139°N 71.74139°W / 42.29139; -71.74139 Coordinates: 42°17′29″N71°44′29″W / 42.29139°N 71.74139°W / 42.29139; -71.74139
Arealess than one acre
Built1828
NRHP reference No. 13000622 [1]
Added to NRHPAugust 27, 2013

The District No. 5 School is an historic school building and local history museum at 2 Old Mill Road in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. It is one of two relatively unmodified one-room schoolhouses in the town. Built in 1828, the brick schoolhouse is also one of the oldest surviving school buildings in the state. [2] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. [1]

Contents

Description and history

The District No. 5 School is located in western Shrewsbury, on the west side of Old Mill Road just south of its junction with Main Street. It is a single-story brick structure, with a gable roof and a stone foundation. It measures about 21 by 31 feet (6.4 m × 9.4 m), with its long axis and roof oriented east–west. The eastern facade houses a single door, which provides access to the building. The north wall has four windows, placed slightly irregularly, while the south wall has only three. The west side has no windows, but also has evidence in the brickwork that there were once two windows. The interior of the school has a vestibule area, which then opens into the classroom. The wall separating the spaces is vertical tongue-and-groove, with an original Federal-period door. The classroom walls are finished in vertical tongue-and-groove wainscoting, with plaster above. Floors appear to be original random-width planking, fastened with cut nails. [2]

The town of Shrewsbury, incorporated in 1727, established a district school system in about 1742, and had seven districts by 1792. The present district 5 schoolhouse was built in 1828 on land purchased from Orville Lothrop, whose farmhouse still stands to the northwest across Main Street. The school was funded and maintained by district residents until the state abolished the district system in 1869, after which the school (like the town's other district schools) was taken over by the town. It remained in use as a public school until 1917, and its ownership apparently reverted to the Lothrops, but was later retaken by the town for nonpayment of taxes. From the 1940s to 1960s it was being used as a residence, and it was restored in the 1970s to a turn-of-the-20th-century appearance. The local historical society purchased the property from the town for $1 in 1974, with stipulations that it be used for exclusively historical purposes. It is now operated by them as a museum. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Chana School United States historic place

Chana School is a Registered Historic Place in Ogle County, Illinois, in the county seat of Oregon, Illinois. One of six Oregon sites listed on the Register, the school is an oddly shaped, two-room schoolhouse which has been moved from its original location. Chana School joined the Register in 2005 as an education museum.

Cobblestone Historic District United States historic place

The Cobblestone Historic District is located along state highway NY 104 in Childs, New York, United States. It comprises three buildings that exemplify the cobblestone architecture developed to a high degree in the regions of upstate New York near Lake Ontario and exported to other areas with settlers.

District Five Schoolhouse United States historic place

The District Five Schoolhouse, also known as the Fenner Hill School, is a historic former school building at 449 School Street in Webster, Massachusetts. Built in 1835, the one-room schoolhouse was the first school building built by the recently incorporated town of Webster. It served the town as a school for 100 years, after which it was used by the school system for storage. In 1966 it became the museum and headquarters of the Webster-Dudley Historical Society. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

South School (Shutesbury, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The South School is a historic one-room schoolhouse at 6 Schoolhouse Rd. in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. It is one of two such schoolhouses remaining in Shutesbury, and is a rare example of a side-gable construction. Its date of construction is uncertain, but is estimated to be about 1830. Because of the simplicity of the building, the presence of both Federal and Greek Revival elements in its design, and the comparatively late adoption of Greek Revival styles in the rural community, the school may have been built at a later date.

Norcross Factory United States historic place

The Norcross Factory is a historic building at 10 E. Worcester Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in stages beginning 1863, this structure includes one of the city's oldest school buildings, the East Worcester Grammar School, and represents an adaptive reuse of the building, serving from 1893 to 1918 as the main facility of the Norcross Brothers, a firm best known for its construction of H. H. Richardson designs. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Glenville School (Greenwich, Connecticut) United States historic place

The Glenville School is a historic school building at 449 Pemberwick Road in the Glenville section of Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. It was one of several schools built in the town in the 1920s, when it consolidated its former rural school districts into a modern school system, with modern buildings.

Bell Hill School United States historic place

The Bell Hill School or District Number One School is an historic school in Otisfield, Maine. The one-room brick schoolhouse was one of three completed in 1839 for the town, and is the only one to survive. It served the town as a district school until 1940. It was acquired in 1950 by the Bell Hill Meetinghouse Association, and has been converted into a local history museum. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Greers Corner School United States historic place

The Greer's Corner School is an historic school in Belmont Corner, Maine. Built in 1908, it is the only surviving one-room schoolhouse in the rural community. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Mayer Red Brick Schoolhouse United States historic place

Mayer Red Brick Schoolhouse is a building in Mayer, Arizona. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2004. It is considered the longest used schoolhouse in Arizona, having been in operation for over eighty years. Due to its physical mass and prominent hillside location, it is "the most visible and identifiable building" in the small unincorporated town and the town's largest building.

Strang School District No. 36 United States historic place

Strang School District No. 36, or the Strang Public School, is a historic school located in Fillmore County, Nebraska, in the village of Strang. The school is one of the two sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the village of Strang. The school building is a small, two-story, brick public schoolhouse, which was built to replace the schoolhouse that was previously located on that site. The schoolhouse was built between 1929 and 1930, and replaced the previous schoolhouse, which burned down in 1928. The schoolhouse still retains all original building materials. The school served high school students from 1930 to 1951, and still functions as a school today, serving grades K–8. The NRHP listing also includes a flagpole located outside the schoolhouse, and five pieces of playground equipment.

Pine Street School (Northfield, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Pine Street School is a historic schoolhouse at 13 Pine Street in Northfield, Massachusetts. The school was built in 1904 and served as such until 1940, and represents a well-preserved specimen of an early 20th-century school building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Bournedale Village School United States historic place

The Bournedale Village School is a historic school building at 29 Herring Pond Road in Bourne, Massachusetts. Built in 1897, it was the last one-room schoolhouse built by the town, and is one of the few surviving 19th-century schoolhouses in all of Barnstable County. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. The building is now used by the Bournedale Civic Association as a meeting space.

West Brick School United States historic place

The West Brick School is an historic school building at 1492 Old Turnpike Road in Oakham, Massachusetts. Built about 1827, it is one of the rural community's few surviving 19th-century brick buildings. It served as a school until 1920, and was thereafter converted to a summer residence. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

Hemmant State School

Hemmant State School is a heritage-listed state school at 56 Hemmant-Tingalpa Road, Hemmant, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1876 to 1930s. Its architects included Francis Drummond Greville Stanley. It is also known as Bulimba Creek School and Doughboy Creek Mixed School. On its grounds is the historic house Dumbarton, also known as Ashcroft House and Gibson House. The original Hemmant State School closed at the end of 2010, and in 2012 was replaced by the Hemmant Flexible Learning Centre, a new school targeted at students disengaged from mainstream education. The school buildings and structures were added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 4 September 2003.

Division No. 9 School United States historic place

The Division No. 9 School is a historic former one-room schoolhouse on Maine State Route 9 in Wells, Maine. Built in 1900, it is the best-preserved of the town's surviving district school buildings, and is now a museum owned by the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Round Schoolhouse United States historic place

The Round Schoolhouse is a historic school building on Grassy Brook Road in Brookline, Vermont. Built in 1822, it is the oldest brick schoolhouse in Windham County, and further distinctive for its round shape. From 1929 to 1989 it served as Brookline's town hall. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

District No. 5 School (Petersham, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The District No. 5 School is an historic school building and local history museum at 311 East Road in Petersham, Massachusetts. It is one of two relatively unmodified one-room schoolhouses in the town that were built in 1849. It is presently managed by the local historical society as a local history museum. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

District No. 4 School (Petersham, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The District No. 4 School, also known as the First East School or Ledgeville School, is an historic school building at 191 East Road in Petersham, Massachusetts. Built in 1846, it is one of the town's older surviving district school buildings, and now serves as a local community hall. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

East Charlemont District School United States historic place

The East Charlemont District School is a historic district school building at 1811 Massachusetts Route 2 in Charlemont, Massachusetts. Built in 1828, it is one of a small number of surviving brick district schoolhouses in the state of Massachusetts. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

Olive Township District No. 1 School United States historic place

The Olive Township District No. 1 School, also known as the Olive Station School, is a one-room school located at 11611 Stanton Street in Olive Township, Michigan. It is now a private residence. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for District No. 5 School" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-02-12.