Built around 1810 in the Federal style, the North Center School is a one-room schoolhouse that originally stood in Whately. It was moved to the Eastern States Exposition grounds to become part of Storrowton. The entryway of the building was modified to resemble one in the Federal style, as seen on a schoolhouse in Vergennes, Vermont (since moved to the Shelburne Museum), by Storrowtown’s benefactor, Helen O. Storrow.
The former school building, built in 1824 at the corner of Pinckney and Anderson Streets in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, originally served as the Boston English High School. In 1844, it became the Phillips Grammar School, named for John Phillips, Boston’s first mayor. It became the first integrated school in Boston in 1855. In 1861, the Phillips School moved to a larger building and was renamed the Wendell Phillips School. The old building was then used by the Sharp School, a public school. In the 1980s, the building was adapted to house condominiums. Today, it is on the Black Heritage Trail.
