USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it > Part 55
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There is an annual suffering of educa- tional interests because new and in- experienced district committees totally leave out of sight the policy of their experienced predecessors. There should be one system and harmony of school work throughout the town."
Again in 1875 the school visitors urged that, "the district system is prejudicial to the educational interests of our town, and that only habit re-
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SCHOOLS.
tains the former arrangement," and cites the fact that every year other towns are voluntarily abandoning it. In April, 1877, a proposition to con- solidate the six central districts, which were practically within the city limits, was defeated.
In 1896, after more than thirty years of waiting, the town voted by the slender majority of five to consolidate.
The first town school committee was
me authority for stating that there is simply no comparison between the present system and the district sys- tem.”
THE DISTRICTS.
The history of the districts is vir- tually the history of the Meriden pub- lic schools, and some facts concerning their beginnings may prove interest- ing.
Photo by R. S. Godfrey. OLD CENTER SCHOOL.
confident that taxpayers had given proof of their wisdom in voting for this measure, and pointed out that, notwithstanding the employment of a superintendent and drawing teacher, the expense to the town was no greater.
Mr. Mather, in referring to the value received for the money ex- pended, said in 1902: "Over thirty years' experience in these schools gives
Broad street, running north and south, and Main street, running east and west, fixed in a general way the Northeast, Southeast, Northwest and Southwest districts. The first two al- ways retained these names, though the names Old Road and Farms.were sub- sequently applied to the last two. By 1791, fifteen years before the town was incorporated the East, Center and West districts had been added. In
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
1837 the North Center, the Corner and Hanover had been added. The name North Center disappeared, however, about 1865. The Railroad district, as its name implies, followed the open- ing of the N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. about 1840, and the Prattsville dis- trict was set apart in 1849. The West district in 1850 took the name of Ives, and in 1870 the name of North- west, no doubt to distinguish it from
Commtee Appointed to Set out the Several School Districts in sd Society which are as follows Viz ..
I. The Southeast District begin- ning at the Southeast corner at the old Society line Running north on the east Road half way between John Halls & Phineas Halls. Then west- ardly to the old Burying Yard. then South to the first line, including Asa- hel Yale, the Middle Road to be in-
Photo by R. S. Godfrey. OLD SOUTH CENTER SCHOOL.
the new West district organized be- tween it and the Corner.
Although no one could now accu- rately locate the original districts by the following description, the vote of an adjourned meeting of the society held March 7, 1791, is here reproduced because of its quaint character.
At an Adjourned Society Meeting March 7th, 1791 :
VOTED to Except the Report of the
cluded to the head of Sd. Road near Lieut. Jonathan Yales ..
2 East District-beginning on the north line of the South east running West to the head of the lain near Lieut. Jonathan Yales, extending north on the East Road A quarter of A Mile north of Amasa Ives ; including the Road by Daniel Halls & John Yeamons to Elnathan Ives including Sd Ives.
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3. North East District beginning on the north line of the East District, Running north to the north line. then westardly to the Bridge West of the wdo Lois Houghs, running South to the Road that goeth to Capt. Shalors
on the Road to the wdo Louis Hough as far as the Bridge,
5. West District, beginning at the House where James Cobon Usd to live, including al West of the Harbor Brook to Cheshire lin
HIGH SCHOOL.
then A cros to the foot of the Great Hill South of John Barnses.
4. North west District, beginning at the north line, extending South to Benjn Merriams including Sd Mer- riam. West to the blew Hills East
6 South west District, beginning at the old Society line bounding East on the South-east District running north to Asaph Mitchels then west by Israel Halls Jr: to the Country road, not including Sd Hall, then running north
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CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
to the Dog-way So called including all East of the Harbour Brook. .
7 The remaining part of the So- ciety to constetute the Center District. Test. Nath11 B. Johnson, Clerk.
The first schoolhouse in the Pratts- ville district, built about 1849, was a plain two-story building on the cor- ner of North Broad and Camp streets. The present building was erected to
The old Center school stood on what is now High street, back of the old Baptist church, at the northwest cor- ner of the Broad street cemetery. It probably served as a schoolhouse for fifty-seven years or until the South Center was built about 1863, on Cur- tis street, when it was used a while for storage purposes, and then demol- ished. The South Center accommo-
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
CHURCH STREET SCHOOL.
the north of the old one, in 1875, at a cost of $23,573. It contains eight school rooms and two playrooms. In 1864 this school registered fifty-two pupils, with two male teachers; in 1905, the registration was 321, with nine female teachers. In 1902 the name was changed to North Broad street school by which it has been known ever since.
dated the children of the south end until the brick schoolhouse on Parker avenue was erected in 1869. The North Center, which stood on the cor- ner of Broad and Wall streets, was used by children from the north end of the district. This building later gave way to a better one, still stand- ing on School street. The Parker avenue schoolhouse and the Broad
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SCHOOLS.
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street annex gathered in all the chil- dren and the old names of South and North Center disappeared. "The house on Parker avenue," says an old report, "is altogether too high. There are nearly 100 steps from the street in front to the principal's platform in Number 8." This building is now closed on account of its unsanitary condition. In 1864 the combined enumeration of the schools in the Cen-
house in which the first four grades are taught. The registration for 1905 was 132, with four teachers.
The eight-room Liberty street school was built in 1894 as a primary school. When the Parker avenue school was condemned in 1904, it was made a grammar school also. The school reg- istered 315 pupils in 1905 under a male principal and eight assistants.
The Hanover school appears on the
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
CENTRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
ter district was 176, with three teach- ers. In 1897 the name Center is dis- placed in the report by the name Par- ker avenue school.
South Broad street school was built as an annex to the Parker avenue school in 1884. It has always been used for the primary grades and been supervised by the principal of the Lib- erty street school, H. D. Beebe. There are four rooms in this school-
list in 1837, but the date of the first schoolhouse cannot be accurately fixed, although it was before 1844. It stood a little east of the present build- ing and had two rooms. When the new school was erected in 1868 the old one was removed to Cutlery ave- nue. The new school cost $11,000. A two-room addition was made in 1905, when there were 163 pupils un- der six female teachers.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
There seems to be no trace of the Corner district until 1830 when its first schoolhouse stood on the corner of East Main and State streets. It is spoken of as being "surrounded by a swamp," and "nestling among the wil- lows," by elderly people who attended it. In 1836 it was removed to a two- story building on the north side of Church street, near the southeast cor- ner of the present Church street school
it still stands near Orange street, and is now used as a dwelling. In 1864 the Corner District school had enrolled 275 pupils, with three teachers, and an old report has this to say of the insti- tution: "This is the only thoroughly graded school in the town which re- ceives children in the elements, and takes them through the successive stages of the common and higher Eng- lish branches and also enables them to
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
WEST DISTRICT SCHOOL.
grounds. In 1853 this building was purchased by Noah Linsley and made into a dwelling. H. D. Smith and David N. Camp kept a high and select school from 1847 to 1853 in a building erected by the former. The Meriden Institute, as it was known, was bought by the district and enlarged and used until a brick building was put up in front of it in 1868. The "Institute" was then moved to King street, where
avail themselves of the facilities of a classical education." The registration for 1905 for this school, which since 1897 has been entered in town reports as the Church street school, was 576, under a male principal and fourteen assistant teachers.
The Willow and King street schools were built as annexes of the Corner district, the former in 1883, the latter in 1887. The Willow street school
SCHOOLS.
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numbers 153 and has four teachers working in the primary grades. In the King street school there are 326 pupils with eight rooms and seven grades.
Lewis avenue school, an eight- room building, was erected by the Cor- ner district in 1893 at a cost of $10,- 333.44. The rooms are larger than those in the older schools, the black- boards put in are of solid slate, and the
elers on foot or horseback. The dis- trict was first known as the Northwest, and the change to Old Road was made in honor of the historic thoroughfare which passed through it. The first schoolhouse stood on the corner of Hicks and Colony streets, where the second was built in 1843. The first schoolhouse was moved and made into a dwelling on Britannia street-it is still standing. The second is at pres-
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
NORTH COLONY SCHOOL.
time is kept by electrical clocks. Dur- ing the first year three rooms in the building were rented by the West dis- trict and one was occupied by the Cor- ner district. In 1905 it had 284 pu- pils and eight teachers.
The Old Road district took its name from the fact that the old colonial road from Hartford to New Haven lay through its land. Originally the road was nothing but a bridle path for trav-
ent in use by the Firearms Co. The new schoolhouse was built a few rods east of the old location, in 1875, at a cost of $15,000. In 1864 there were sixty-five pupils enrolled, with two teachers ; in 1905, there were 375, with a male principal and nine teachers. In the report of 1897 this school was first called the North Colony school.
The Railroad district was not or- ganized until after the opening of
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
the Hartford and New Haven rail- road, and its first schoolhouse was probably not erected until 1853. In 1868 this was enlarged and made into a two-story building. In 1875 a new building was put up on the south and this was enlarged in 1885. In Mr. Pettee's report of 1890 he says of the district : "But the school buildings of this district are badly located, and the buildings themselves are discreditable
rooms on each floor open, giving ex- cellent ventilation and light for the corridors. The same plan was adopted for the Liberty street school. In 1864 the Railroad school registered forty- two pupils, with two teachers. In 1905 there were II0 in the Franklin street school, with four teachers and 235 in the Columbia street school, with six teachers.
The date of the first schoolhouse in
Photos by R. S. Godfrey. LIBERTY STREET SCHOOL.
to the district. I hope that soon bet- ter buildings will be provided and a better location found for them." His suggestion was carried out in 1894, when the Franklin and Columbia street schoolhouses were erected at a cost of $19,299.81. The Columbia street school is of two stories and has a cen- tral octagonal hall extending from the first floor to the large skylight in the roof; from this hall the four school-
the East district is not given in old records, but it was some time pre- vious to 1814. It stood on the north side of the Middletown road, on the corner by Almon Hall's. It is not known what became of the building. Later another schoolhouse was used until the easterly of the present East buildings was erected in 1843; this was followed by the westerly in 1846. In 1864 the number registered was
SCHOOLS.
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seventy-four ; in 1905, forty-three. The number of teachers is the same now as in 1864-two.
The Northeast district is one of the original seven that appear upon the town list of 1814. Its first school- house is still standing near the origi- nal location on Bee street, one-fourth of a mile north of the present school house. It is used as a dwelling. The new house was built in 1868 at a cost
house was built, on the north side of Johnson avenue. About 1850 this was moved to the corner of Johnson avenue and Spruce street, and in 1870 the present building was erected. The district dropped the name West and took that of Ives about 1850, and in 1870 this was changed to the North- west. This school was discontinued in October, 1904. The building was sold and is now used as a dwelling.
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
KING STREET SCHOOL.
of $1,500. In 1888 orders were is- sued to improve the house and out- buildings. This was done and the value of the property was considerably increased in consequence. It is now closed, and the pupils are conveyed to the North Broad street school. The building has been sold and is used as a dwelling.
One of the original seven districts was the West, where the first school-
The West Main street school was begun in 1868 as a four-room build- ing. By 1890 it had been twice en- larged, making it the most unsightly school building in town. In 1864 there were ninety-two scholars, with two teachers. The report of that year says: "The large number of scholars made it necessary to divide the school into two departments and the plan was continued until last spring. The older
.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
children attended in the school house and the younger at the house of Almon Andrews." In 1905 it had ten rooms under a male principal and ten as- sistants.
The Farms district was called the Southwest when the town was incor- porated in 1806 and as late as 1837. It appears on the records just once as "Falls Plain." The first schoolhouse was built in 1800 and repaired and en-
trict. It was built about 1800, and origi- nally stood some twelve rods southeast of the present location, to which it was moved in 1847; it was enlarged and refurnished during the eighties. In 1864 the register recorded twenty, with two teachers; in 1905 there were twelve pupils, with one teacher.
FINANCES.
The first schools were inexpensive
to
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
FRANKLIN STREET SCHOOL.
larged in 1869. In 1878 the school visitors condemned the building which was moved off and a new one built in 1879, at a cost of $1,500. This dis- trict drew about as many children from Wallingford as from Meriden. The school was closed in 1905, the building sold, and the children trans- ported to other schools.
The oldest schoolhouse in town, without doubt, is in the Southeast dis-
affairs, corresponding to the simplicity of the life of the times. The terms were short, the attendance was small and irregular, and the teachers made little preparation for their work and received small pay. The schools shared in the general progress and have be- come more elaborate and costly as the people have demanded more for their children and have had the means to pay for it.
St 0 T f
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SCHOOLS.
The system of accounting is still somewhat complex. The first select- man pays all the bills from the appro- priation as fast as they are approved by the school committee, but turns over the money for salaries in a lump sum each month to the clerk of the school committee, who attends to paying the employees, who are on salary.
The treasurer of the school commit- tee receives the library grant from the
Thus, at the present time, four dif- ferent persons receive, disburse, and account for the money used by the schools.
The town voted in 1863 to increase the educational tax from three-tenths to one and one-twentieth of a mill on a dollar so as to cover all the expenses of the several dis- tricts, and thus do away with rate bills and district taxes. The motion,
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
WILLOW STREET SCHOOL.
state of $270 a year and a like amount of town funds from the first selectman. These are increased by a few tuition fees and other small sums. His re- ceipts for 1904-5 were $848.58 and his expenditures for books and apparatus were $776.74.
The principal of the High school collects tuition from non-residents, and with it buys books for the High school library.
carried in town meeting largely through the influence of Rev. John Parker, Dr. Grove H. Wilson and Welcome E. Benham, declared that "all the public schools of the town shall be free, and the expense of said schools, heretofore defrayed from the avails of rate bills, shall be paid by the town." It thus appears that before that time every parent who sent a child to school paid, or was supposed to pay,
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
tuition. "The experiment of free schools met with universal favor, the attendance increased, the finances were more simply and economically man- aged, and the experience of the year (1863-4) shows that this is the only just and proper method of securing to all the benefits of a good education." -Report of 1864.
The total amount of public money expended that year was $5,919.41 or
dentals. When buildings were to be erected, altered or repaired, the dis- trict financed the improvements alone. For this purpose they had a complete fiscal organization with collectors, treasurers and auditors. While it was simple and quite satisfactory to those concerned, the records were often kept in a fragmentary way, and only a few were turned over to the selectmen when the town consolidated.
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
NORTH BROAD STREET SCHOOL.
about $4.II per scholar enumerated. The basis on which this was dis- tributed to the districts is not stated.
For years the school visitors and se- lectmen acted as a joint board of finance for the town, and recom- mended an appropriation by the town sufficient to provide each district with funds enough for the ordinary run- ning expenses, such as teachers' and janitors' wages, fuel and minor inci-
The year 1879-'80 is typical. In that year the town distributed to the treasurers of the various districts $29,- 647.23. In addition thereto the dis- tricts raised by means of district taxes $11,877.17, by loans $2,053, and from other sources $414.43, or about half as much as the town appropriated.
The state has for many years an- nually distributed money to the towns on the basis of the number of children
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enumerated. The sale of the Western Reserve lands yielded over $2,000,000. This was invested for the benefit of the schools. In 1871 it yielded $1.20 per scholar enumerated. By 1891, be- cause of the increase in the number of children enumerated and the decline in interest rates, it yielded but seventy- five cents per scholar. The state, however, appropriated in that year from the civil list the amount of $1.50
which should be forever devoted to school purposes. The income in this town varies ; in 1864 it was $230.20, in 1905 it was $179.44.
When the district system ceased, in 1896, the town school committee as- sumed financial control. Levi E. Coe, Benjamin Page and W. A. Miles, none of whom were on the town school committee, were appointed by the town to appraise the property of the
Photo by R. S. Godfrev.
SOUTH BROAD STREET SCHOOL.
per scholar. This sum of $2.25 per scholar is still received annually by the town.
In 1836 the finances of the United States were in such a flourishing con- dition that the national treasury over- flowed to the amount of $28,000,000. Congress lent this to the several states. Connecticut deposited her share, $763,- 661, among the towns, creating in each a Town Deposit Fund, the proceeds of
school districts. They reported the total value of the property to be $234,- 987.42 though the district committees in the same year had set it at $413,548. The town assumed the indebtedness of the districts, $61,010.45, against which were ready assets amounting to $2,- 488.91.
Including the income from all these sources the school committee had $115,980 to expend for the year 1905-
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
'06. $10,000 of this was a special ap- propriation to buy the town's first sup- ply of free text books.
SCHOOLHOUSES.
The Southeast school at the corner of Miller and Paddock avenues is the oldest schoolhouse in town. It is said to have been built in 1800. It was en- larged in 1885 and is still in use.
The second type of buildings, larger
twin school houses of the East dis- trict standing side by side, and built in 1843 and in 1846, belong to this period.
In 1860 the population of Meriden was 7,426; in 1870 it was 10,57I. Between these years came a great re- vival in schoolhouse erection, due, no doubt, to the rapid increase in popu- lation. During this period the Center and Corner districts erected four-story
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
COLUMBIA STREET SCHOOL.
and more comfortable, may still be recognized, though used now as dwellings, sometimes on their orig- inal sites, as in the case of the stone structure on Allen avenue belonging to the West district, sometimes moved to other lots. The South Center school, a roomy, frame building which stood at 12 Curtis street, was moved by its present owner to Hobart street, and converted into a tenement. The
brick buildings of about the same type, while the West and Hanover erected two-story buildings of a type afterward followed by the Old Road district. Districts seemed to vie with each other in the improvement of their property. Parents became much more eager to keep children in school in the new buildings and school was made more inviting to the children.
The Prattsville, or North Broad
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SCHOOLS.
street school, was built in 1873, and was a model eight-room building which might well have been imitated.
To meet the next wave of increase in the early 80's the West district made an unsightly addition to its frame building, while the other districts be- gan the erection of substantial brick houses, two stories high, and having two or four rooms on a floor. The Old Road and West schools originally
In the early 90's came another build- ing movement. Though the Lewis avenue school followed the lines of King street, the Columbia street and Liberty street schools were of a slightly different type, introducing the central octagonal corridor and the en- closed pupils' wardrobes.
One schoolhouse was acquired by purchase. In 1903 the proprietors of the German-American school sold to
Photo by R. S. Godfrey. LEWIS AVENUE SCHOOL.
had a pair of rooms on each floor, with a corridor and stairway space between them. They were subsequently en- larged by the addition of another pair of rooms on each floor, at right angles to the first, and making use of the same corridors and stairs. This resulted in a building in the shape of a cross.
The substantial brick buildings for the Willow street, South Broad street and King street belong to this period. 15
the town their four-room brick build- ing in the rear of Liberty street and the Central Grammar school was or- ganized in it.
The only schoolhouse erected un- der town,. rather than district or pri- vate management, is the Meriden High school. Into this beautiful and imposing structure were incorporated the best ideas of beauty and utility of design, and the best materials and
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CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
workmanship. It was erected in 1885 but the interior was not entirely com- pleted until the needs of the school required it in 1890.
The town now owns eighteen build- ings, nine of which are brick. Ten have eight rooms or more ; one has six rooms ; there are four with four rooms, and three with only one room.
The greatest event in the history of schoolhouse building was the town
sanitary condition of all the present houses.
LEADERS.
In comparison with the magnitude of the present day interests the schools of sixty years ago were small affairs, yet Meriden was not then, and has at no time since been lacking in men to labor for the improvement of her schools. David N. Camp, than whom
Photo by R. S. Godfrey.
EAST DISTRICT SCHOOL.
vote of 1905 to issue bonds to the amount of $150,000 for the purpose of erecting modern buildings to meet the present pressing needs. The contract is already let for a twelve-room gram- mar school on West Main street near Windsor avenue, and a lot facing City Park has been bought for a similar purpose in the northern part of the city. The year 1905 marked the be- ginning of a movement to improve the
no living educator in Connecticut is held in more tender esteem, conducted a high and select school here from 1847 to 1853.
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