Bullet Hill School (1789)

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Bullet Hill School is located on Main Street in Southbury. Built in 1789, it is one of New England’s oldest surviving brick schoolhouses. Earlier known as the brick school, it is thought to have acquired its name from a hill in Southbury where bullets were cast during the Revolutionary War (or, in an alternate version of the story, a hill where bullets were discharged during militia practice, which were then remolded for reuse at the school. Used as a school until 1942, the building was saved in the 1960s and and restored in the 1970s by the Friends of Bullet Hill School, which became the Southbury Historical Society in 1974. It is now maintained by the town and the Historical Society and for over twenty years has hosted a living history program for the region’s third graders.

Old Bristol High School (1890)

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Bristol’s High School building of 1890, at the intersection of Center and Summer Streets, was designed by Bristol-born architect Theodore Peck (who also designed such buildings in Bristol as a house for his brother, Miles Lewis Peck). The school displays the hallmarks of the Richardsonian Romanesque, including the use of stone (here added as trim on a brick building) and semicircular Romanesque arches. The style was named for the influential architect H.H. Richardson, who designed the Cheney Building in Hartford. The High School, which was expanded in 1912, was used as a school until 1922, when a larger building was needed. It has since served various purposes and was named the Messier Building. One notable change to the building since 1890 is a significant shortening of the original chimney. It is currently being renovated as the new home of the Bristol Historical Society.

Cheney School (1859)

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The Cheney School house of 1859 was originally located on a hill, west of Pine Street and north of Cooper Hill Street, in Manchester. In 1914, it was moved to its current location, on Cedar Street, by the Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturing Company to make room for a new dye house. Over the years, the building has served as a day care center, storage space and a children’s museum. In 1985, it became the Museum of Local History, now known as the Old Manchester Museum, managed by the Manchester Historical Society. Another notable schoolhouse nearby is the 1975 replica of the original 1751 one-room Keeney Schoolhouse, located on the grounds of the Cheney Homestead.

West Middle School (1930)

Hartford’s Georgian Revival style West Middle Middle School of 1930 replaced the school’s earlier building, a Victorian Gothic structure designed by Richard M. Upjohn and erected in 1873. The school‘s original facade faces Asylum Avenue in the city’s Asylum Hill neighborhood. Its design, like that of a number of other buildings in the city, was based on that of the Old State House. Update (2017): the school recently underwent a major renovation. West Middle Community School now has its main entrance on Niles Street. The Mark Twain branch of the Hartford Public Library has moved to a location inside the school, with its entrance being the school’s former front facade on Asylum Avenue.

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Academy Hall (1803)

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Rocky Hill’s Academy Hall was built in 1803 as a navigation school for sailors at time when the town was still an active port and students might hope to become sea captains in the future. Construction was funded by public and private contributions, but the builder, Abraham Jaggers, still ended up bankrupt! It later served as a primary school until 1940. Damaged by fire in 1839, the interior was rebuilt. The building has also been altered in other ways, including the removal of the two original end chimneys. Currently owned by the town, the Academy Hall is currently leased to the Rocky Hill Historical Society and serves as a museum and historical library.