District #1 School House, Bethlehem (1865)

On Main Street, across from the Green in Bethlehem, is the former District #1 Schoolhouse, also known as the Center School. One of nine district schools in town, it was built in 1865 (or perhaps in 1832?) and later, after the district schools were consolidated in 1914, served for many years as the town library. It was then used by the Episcopal Church for their summer fair and other events. The building was moved south to its present location in 1912 when Memorial Hall was built next door. Restored by the Old Bethlem Historical Society, the school is now a museum.

Abraham Pierson School (1932)

The Abraham Pierson School is a Colonial Revival-style elementary school located at 75 East Main Street in the center of Clinton. The school is named for Abraham Pierson, who was pastor of Clinton’s Congregational Church and, from 1701-1707, was the first rector of the Collegiate School, which later became Yale University. The Pierson School was built in 1932 on the original site (or next to the site) of the Morgan School, a private school founded in 1870 by Charles Morgan, a New York businessman and Clinton native. On the grounds of the school are statues of Pierson and Morgan, both sculpted in 1874 by Launt Thompson.

Hall Family School for Boys (1840)

The Hall family of Ellington had a long association with education in the nineteenth century. As related in vol. 1 of The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut (1891):

In 1825, Mr. John Hall opened a school, primarily for the instruction of his own children, though it was not limited to them. […] This school was continued till 1829. […] This was succeeded by “the Ellington School,” which was incorporated by the General Assembly in 1829. A large and handsome building, 128 feet in length, was erected on the gentle rise of ground west of the village […] and the school was opened in the autumn of 1829. Mr. Hall was principal for ten years from that time, and his assistants were mostly graduates of Yale. […] The pupils, who were boys exclusively, came not only from Connecticut, but from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and other states as far south as Louisiana; also from the West Indies and Brazil. They were prepared either for college or for business life, and some of them afterward became men of prominence.

The school was continued, with several changes of management, until 1870. A dedication to education continued in the next generation:

In 1844, Edward Hall, the oldest son of the founder of the Ellington School, established a family school which in a few years acquired an excellent reputation. The boys that were placed in his charge received a thorough training, both morally and intellectually. The school was maintained successfully for nearly thirty years, and many boys living in the town, as well as those from abroad, were profited by the opportunities which it afforded. For nearly half a century the two men, father and son, were foremost in promoting education in the community.

Among the pupils of Hall’s school in the 1870s was a student from Japan, Yanosuke Iwasaki, who became the second president of the Mitsubishi Corporation.

Edward Hall’s school, at 107-109 Main Street in Ellington, is now an apartment house. The building began with the west section on the left, a Greek Revival house that was later duplicated for the east section on the right. The two sections were joined by the higher central section. The school was closed in 1875, the year of Edward Hall died. In 1891, his widow and daughter sold the house to Theodore C.F. Berr, a blacksmith. (more…)

Northwest District School, Hartford (1891)

Hartford’s Northwest District School began with just two rooms in 1870 and was later much enlarged, with additions in 1885, 1891, 1899, 1905 and 1910. In 1914, the 1891 section was moved aside to make room for a final addition. This was said to have been the largest relocation of a brick building in New England up to that time. All of the school complex, except for that 1891 section, were demolished in 1978. The surviving building was used as offices by the Hartford Board of Education until 1997 and was then left vacant for many years. It will soon be the home of the John E. Rogers African American Cultural Center, which will serve as a historical and educational institution for research.

Bridgeport City Hall (1916)

Bridgeport‘s current City Hall, at 45 Lyon Terrace, was built in 1914-1916 as Bridgeport Central High School. Designed by James Gamble Rogers, the Neoclassical structure replaced the previous High School building (built in 1882) on nearby Congress Street, which continued to serve as a High School annex until it burned down in 1948. A new Central High School opened in 1964 and the former school building became City Hall, which relocated from the old City Hall of 1854. (more…)

Henry C. Dwight School (1885)

To celebrate the release of my new book this week, A Guide to Historic Hartford, Connecticut, I’ll be featuring Hartford buildings. The Henry C. Dwight School, at 585 Wethersfield Avenue, consists of two attached structures. The earlier one (image above) was built in about 1885 and is a polychromatic High Victorian Gothic building designed by Jacob Bachmeyer. In 1901, a larger addition (see below) in the Renaissance Revival style was constructed, which more than doubled the size of the school. Known as the Wethersfield Avenue School, it was later renamed for Henry C. Dwight, wool merchant, president of Mechanics Savings Bank, mayor of Hartford in 1890–92 and chairman of Hartford’s South School District. (more…)

Water Tower and Forge, Avon Old Farms School (1922)

Avon Old Farms School, which opened in 1927, is a boarding school for boys founded by Theodate Pope Riddle, Connecticut’s first licensed female architect. She lived at Hill-Stead in Farmington, which she had helped design. Planning for the school’s campus began in 1918 and the land was cleared in 1921. The buildings were modeled after English Cotswold and Tudor styles and utilized traditional English methods. Among the earliest structures to be built were the Water Tower and the Forge, located at the entrance to the campus, whose foundations were laid in 1922. The cylindrical Water Tower is constructed of red sandstone at the base, which melds into similarly-colored brick. Connected to it is the Forge, which has two large chimneys. Constructed of sandstone blocks and brick, it was built as a working forge and provided the metal hardware (hinges, door latches, stair rails, and lanterns) used throughout the campus. The Water Tower contained water until 1976, when cisterns were placed underground. It is now the Ordway Gallery. The Forge was later converted to classroom and meeting space and its exterior has recently been restored.