of Rehoboth s One-Room Schoolhouses Hornbine School

Tour of Rehoboth s One-Room Schoolhouses Hornbine School Sponsored by the Carpenter Museum, Hornbine School, and Rehoboth Cultural Council April 22, 2012 16

Special Notes: In 1920 fifteen one-room district schoolhouses dotted our town. Please see the map on the back cover of this booklet. Due to the large area of Rehoboth, we were not able to visit all of the original sites of these schools during this tour. Here are the remaining district one-room schoolhouses: Bliss School, Homestead Avenue (no longer there) Long Hill School, County Street Oak Swamp School, Brook Street (no longer there) Perry School, 406 Tremont Street Willis School, Pine Street As the town grew and school bus transportation was available, the one-room schoolhouses were replaced with larger buildings that housed multiple classrooms. We are passing a few of those schools today and have included them in our booklet: VILLAGE SCHOOL 91 Summer Street The Village School, or the Little Red Schoolhouse, was perhaps one of the earliest schools in town. It has been noted at two different times that enrollment at this school was extraordinarily large. In 1824 the enrollment was so large that grades one and two were dismissed at noon. Again in 1919 there was a record 47 pupils in this small building. The cost of renovation to the school in 1873-74 was four hundred dollars. New seats and desks were installed. Lende McMullen notes that in the early 20 th century, when her grandmother attended the school, her grandmother and great-grandfather got a fire going early to take away the morning chill. Then the two would walk back home for breakfast. Water for the school came from Lende s grandmother s home. Thomas Bicknell was a teacher of note at the school from 1853-54. Mr. Bicknell is also remembered for opening a private school in 1855 in the vestry of the Congregational Church. In 1930, when the school closed, pupils were transferred to Anawan School. The Village School was sold for $60.00 in 1931. New Anawan School North Rehoboth School Pleasant Street School Also, please note that Nichols School, although a one-room schoolhouse, was not a district school in 1920. Most of the schools on the tour served a specific area in the town. Nichols School occupied a former town hall building. Its purpose was to accommodate 7th and 8th grade from the center of the town. Those students came from more than one district. Circa 1896 This tour is part of a series of events related to our 2012 oral history project, Remembering Rehoboth School Days. It is sponsored by the Carpenter Museum, Hornbine School and Rehoboth Cultural Council, a local. agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. 2 15

HARRIS SCHOOL 222 Providence Street In 1833 Daniel Martin sold a lot for $5.00 to be used for a schoolhouse. Twenty-three years later in 1856 Hannah Miller was paid $37.50 for a lot on the corner of Reed and Providence Streets for another school. These two early schools carried the name Orleans Factory School. Only after 1882 was the name changed to Harris. One teacher in particular is remembered for her years at the Harris School. Delight C. Reed taught 35 years in all, but it is her 25 years at Harris that are noted because of her skill, warmth, and affection. Like many of the other small schools, Harris closed in 1923 when Pleasant Street School opened. However, Harris School was not done yet. For a brief period of time in the 1930s, when the Pleasant Street School was over crowded, the school reopened with Ruth Nystrom as teacher. BLANDING SCHOOL 43 Broad Street The building that stands today as The Holy Ghost Brotherhood Hall was first the Blanding School. Built somewhere between 1850-1856, the land for the school was purchased for $12.75 from Jonathan Nash. An advanced, rigorous curriculum that included algebra, physiology, rhetoric and Latin along with the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic seem to have made the classes worthy of note. A hallmark of the school calendar was a special program to commemorate Memorial Day. Those May celebrations were instituted by Miss Elizabeth B. Pierce in the early 20 th century. Members of the Blanding family notably Amelia, Susan, and Elizabeth were said to have taught at the school. By December of 1930 the Anawan School was completed and ready to assimilate Blanding pupils. In 1931 the school was sold for $425.00 to the Portuguese Holy Ghost Brotherhood. Circa late 1960s, early 1970s 14 3

NICHOLS SCHOOL 84 Bay State Road Housed in a building that had once been the Town Hall, Nichols Grammar School has the briefest history of all the schools seen today. The school opened in 1922 specifically to accommodate 7 th and 8 th grade. It closed in 1930 when the Anawan School was completed. During those eight years there was just one teacher Mrs. Charlotte C. Thatcher, although Dorothy Beckwith taught for a brief period of time from April-December 1930. the building is an American Legion Hall. PALMER RIVER SCHOOL 15 Mason Street Some of the earliest mention of schools and schoolmasters centers around the history at Palmer River. On November 12, 1703 there appears the first mention of a schoolmaster for a school in Rehoboth as we know it today. The town voted to hire Mr. Joseph Metcalf to keep school at Palmer s River the last six months of the year. The residents of that part of town were to provide a convenient place in which the schoolmaster could run the school. In 1709 there is mention of John Lynn who taught for 14 weeks. And just three years later in 1712, the Palmer River neighborhood was voted ten pounds to maintain an English school at Palmer s River. The very oldest Palmer River School is referred to by several names Dr. Bullock s School, Munroe School and Palmer s River School. No matter how the school was known, what existed at the time was a very small building situated so close to Mason Street that there was no real place for the children to play. In 1891 the school flew the first American flag in Rehoboth. In 1903, near the site of the older building, a new, larger Palmer River School was built. It was well lighted with good ventilation and it was set well back from the road. It was the largest school in Rehoboth at the time, accommodating 42 pupils. The teacher s desk from this school is at the Hornbine School today. Palmer River School closed in 1923 when the new Pleasant Street School opened. Circa 1922-30 4 13

HORTON SCHOOL 130 Pleasant Street As early as 1793, land was sold for $10.00 by Nathaniel Read for the first Horton School. Some years later, in the early 1800s, $25.00 was paid to Gilbert Horton for land to build a new school. What seems to have been unusual about this school was the way in which it was situated. It did not face the road, but rather was set parallel to Pleasant Street facing south. When its time as a school came to an end, the building was moved across the street where it was used as a chapel. Later still, it was sold to a family who converted the school turned chapel into a home. Ida J. Horton attended this one-room schoolhouse. Later she married Ralston B. Read who had been her classmate. Ida taught at the Horton School until it closed in 1923 and then became the first principal of Pleasant Street School. And as we drive by let s look at the... NEW ANAWAN SCHOOL Bay State Road In 1930, the first brick school in town was built. This new Anawan School on Bay State Road welcomed students from several of the smaller schools that had dotted the Rehoboth countryside. In 1953 the old school became the Center Fire Station, and in the 1980s, it served as a meeting place for the town s Senior Citizens. OLD ANAWAN SCHOOL 320 Anawan Street Like so many of the early schoolhouses, the first Anawan School has served the town in many ways. But, in 1852, when the town paid William Marvel II the sum of $14.00, a one-room schoolhouse was built. By the turn of the 20 th century, enrollment at the Peck School was so small that children from that district school joined with the pupils at Anawan. Then, in 1930, when the new Anawan School was built, this school closed. 12 5

PECK SCHOOL 222 Anawan Street A picture of a lonely, run-down building seems to portray the struggle that is part of the history of Peck School. In the 1700s the very earliest school was located at the corner of Anawan Street and Fairview Avenue. Then, in 1846, John Davis was paid $25.00 for land for a new school. Although newer, just ten years later the school committee reported it was unsuitable. In the mid 1890s Ruth Waterman, a pupil 7 years old at the time, remembered attending lessons at the home of her teacher Martha Dean. Why the school was closed is unknown, but Ruth remembered that she and her brother became bored repeating the same lessons again and again. By 1900, so few students were at the Peck School that those in attendance were sent to the Anawan School. In the early 1920s Peck School closed its doors for the final time. And as we drive by let s look at the... PLEASANT STREET SCHOOL 127 Pleasant Street Built in 1922 to replace existing one-room schoolhouses, the Pleasant Street School housed eight grades in four rooms. Mrs. Dorothy Truesdale was both teacher and principal there for 26 years. During World War II, an airplane observation tower on the roof of the school was manned by the community. Women took watch during the day; the men took over at night. An active PTA was very proud to have established the Susan M. Henley Memorial Library, a Reading Is Fundamental program, and annual visits to the school by the Roger Williams College Theater. Pleasant Street School closed in 1980. 1972 6 11

HORNBINE SCHOOL Corner of Baker Street and Hornbine Road Before there was a Hornbine School, a school stood at the curve of the road on Old Spring Street near Cole Brook Cemetery. Cole Brook School was probably established by Commonwealth Law in 1789. Only a winter session was held. Moving forward to the 1840s, land was acquired from the Baker family at the intersection of Hornbine and Baker Roads for what we know today as Hornbine School. The original building at this site was small with only two windows on each side. Grades 1-8 were taught. In the 1890s an outhouse building having a boys and girls side with a woodshed in between was constructed on the north side of the building. With enrollment growing, the 1920s saw a 14 ft. addition at the back of the school. Two more windows were added on each side. Slate blackboards were installed. A small real black board remained behind the teacher s desk. Attendance was at an all time high in 1928 with 49 pupils, but in 1937 with just 14 pupils enrolled, the school closed. Although the Perry and Stevens Schools were to carry on until 1941, Hornbine School was the last one-room school in town teaching grades 1-8. The building was sold and changed hands several times. Then, in the late 1960s with the building in deteriorating condition, money was raised and the school was purchased by the Hornbine School Association. Through the efforts of many people of all ages, the school was restored and the classroom opened once again ready to welcome adults and children. The teacher s desk from the old Palmer River School was set in place. Desks from Dighton, Rehoboth, and Vermont were installed. Reproduction wall lamps provided extra lighting. as many as 900 children a year from Massachusetts and Rhode Island communities visit this historic building to experience a day of school the way it may have been in the 19 th century. The school is open on some Sundays summer-fall to welcome visitors of all ages. And as we drive by let s look at the... NORTH REHOBOTH SCHOOL Tremont Street In early 1941, the North Rehoboth School opened its doors to the 72 pupils from the Perry and Stevens Schools. Along with those pupils were 30 students from Anawan School which had become overcrowded. Enrollment grew quickly after the schools consolidated. First, North Rehoboth partitioned its auditorium to make an extra classroom. Finally North Rehoboth went on double sessions until 1952 when Palmer River School was built. 10 7

STEVENS SCHOOL 116 Tremont Street In 1848, the very first Stevens School was built on Tremont Street. It was situated west of Dr. Reynold s house on a piece of land that George Rounds sold for $18.00. Many years later, on January 3, 1887, a fire broke out that badly damaged the Stevens School. The outhouse and fence were ruined. The building that burned had been erected in the mid-1850s. After the fire, extensive repairs were made and children continued attending the school until 1941. At that time they were transferred to the North Rehoboth School. The Perry School housing grades 4, 5, and 6 and the Stevens School with grades 1, 2, and 3 were the last two active one-room schools in Rehoboth. WHEELER SCHOOL 471 Fairview Avenue The first report we have for Wheeler School is 1861. At that time it was referred to as Cromwell Wheeler s School. It is said that the school was named for Jasper Wheeler. Possibly an even earlier school existed and went by the name E. Fayles School. No date for that school is given. A school built in 1884 at a cost of $998.57, served the town until children were sent to the new Anawan School. 1926 8 9