Schools – Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

Central Grammar School, Gloucester (1889)

by Dan/March 19, 2020/Apartment Buildings, Gloucester, Italianate, Schools

Designed by architect Tristram H. Griffin, Central Grammar School is a former high school building erected in 1889 at 10 Dale Avenue, opposite City Hall in Gloucester. It was the city’s first four-year high school. An 1922 addition, built in a style compatible with the original section, more than doubled the size of the building. In 1974-1975, the building was converted into affordable housing for elderly residents. In 2010, the Central Grammar Apartments received a grant of $2.7 million from the state Department of Housing and Community Development for modernization and renovation.

Old Town Hall, Westfield (1837)

by Dan/January 2, 2017January 2, 2017/Greek Revival, Italianate, Public Buildings, Schools, Westfield

The building at 20 Broad Street in Westfield, erected in 1837-1838, served as Town Hall from 1839 until 1920, when a city government was organized. It then continued as City Hall until 1958. The building also held the first formally organized Westfield High School classes from 1855 until 1867. The old Town/City Hall once had a cupola, which was removed in 1912. The neighboring First Congregational Church purchased the building in 1962. It now houses The Carson Center for Human Services.

Prospect Hill School (1897)

by Dan/December 26, 2016December 26, 2016/Colonial Revival, Italianate, Schools, Westfield

The former Prospect Hill School at 33 Montgomery Street in Westfield was erected in 1897 to replace an earlier school building on the site, erected c. 1850s-1860s. The new school building was designed by local architect Augustus W. Holton and originally had eight classrooms and a recessed entry with a portico. In 1919 the building was enlarged and altered, with two more classrooms and an auditorium being added, the new front entry being in a projecting central pavilion. The school closed in 1991. The school building was later redeveloped as apartments.

South Maple Street School (1888)

by Dan/November 5, 2014/Schools, Vernacular, Westfield

The former South Maple Street School, a two-room brick schoolhouse built in 1888, is located at 89 South Maple Street in Westfield. The school was in continuous use until 1918 and was then unoccupied until 1931, when it became a Grange Hall for Westfield Grange #20. An entryway to the cellar kitchen was added to the building’s front facade around 1960.

Bromfield School (1878)

by Dan/May 7, 2014May 7, 2014/Harvard, Libraries, Romanesque Revival, Schools

The Bromfield School in the town of Harvard was founded by Margaret Bromfield Blanchard (died 1876), who left a bequest in her will to establish a private secondary school. The Romanesque Revival school building, designed by Peabody & Stearns, was built in 1877-1878 at 24 Massachusetts Avenue on the land where the colonial house of Mrs. Blanchard’s great-grandfather, Colonel Henry Bromfield, had once stood. Built as the residence of Rev. John Seccomb, the house became the summer residence of Col. Bromfield in 1767. The house burned down in 1855 and Mrs. Blanchard acquired the land for her future school. The Bromfield School eventually became a public school in 1940. It moved out of the old building in 2003 to a new building (12 Massachusetts Avenue). The Old Bromfield School was then extensively restored and reopened in 2007 with an 11,500-square-foot addition as the new home of the Harvard Public Library (4 Pond Road).

Schoolhouse, Hancock Shaker Village (1976)

by Dan/May 6, 2014/Colonial Revival, Hancock, Schools

Replica of Hancock Shaker Village Schoolhouse

The Hancock Shaker school district at Hancock Shaker Village was formally established on March 2nd, 1820. Initially serving children in the Shaker Village, the Shakers’ schoolhouse was later used as a public school. By 1934 the original school house had been sold, moved just east of the village and converted into a private home. The Hancock Shaker Village museum created a replica in 1976 based on measured drawings of the original structure.

Corcoran School (1900)

by Dan/September 10, 2013September 10, 2013/Clinton, Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, Schools

The Corcoran School, at 40 Walnut Street in Clinton, opened in 1900 as a public grammar school. It is the third school to occupy the southwest corner of Walnut and Church Streets since 1846: the original wooden schoolhouse on the site was replaced by a high school, built in 1854, which became a grammar school in the 1880s and stood until it was taken down in 1899 in preparation for building the current structure. Designed by Boston architect Charles J. Bateman, the school was originally called the New Grammar School or School House #10, until 1918 when it was officially named in honor of John W. Corcoran, a former member of the school committee. Closed as a school in 1981, the building was rehabilitated in the 1990s to become the Corcoran House, an assisted living facility. The building has two notable facades, as seen in the images above and below.