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 Schools from Dorchester and Milton Business Directory, and Almanac for 1850 and verified on the 1850 Eaton Map
Grammar Schools
Everett School
Location: Sumner Street
Teacher: Elwell Woodbury
Assistant: Sarah H. Page
Local Committee: Rev. Thomas B. Fox
Located between Sumner and Pleasant Streets. In the 1874 Hopkins map, there is a school in the same location, but we know that a building that had been used as the Everett School was moved to Town Meeting Square to serve as the Dorchester Atheneum. Orcutt says that a new Everett School was opened at this location in February, 1856. Between 1874 and 1884 the wooden building at the Everett School site was replaced by a masonry building. The Everett School on Pleasant Street was built in 1909.
Mather School
Location: Meeting House Hill
Teacher: Levi Adams
Assistant: Hannah B. Page
Local Committee: John H. Robinson
The school was located on Meeting House Hill approximately where the parking lot in front of the current Mather School is located today. Orcutt says that a new school buiIding was opened in September, 1856. In 1874 it was still there. The current Mather School was built
in 1905.
Adams School
Location: Adams Street
Teacher: Samuel D. Hayden
Assistant: Sarah M. Hayden
Local Committee: Lewis F. Pierce
Located on the west side of Adams Street north of Ashmont Street at about where Edwin Street or Mallet Street is located today. It was gone by 1874. The Harris School had been built in 1861 Adams Street at the corner of Victory Road (formerly Mill Street) was erected and named in honor of the Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris who was the pastor of the First Parish for many years. The property was sold to the Boston Housing Authority (in the 1970s?) for the construction of apartment buildings.
Gibson School
Location: School Street
Teacher: D.B. Wheeler
Local Committee: Samuel Hall
Located on the south side of School Street about 2 house lots from Washington Street. By 1874 William Blackman owned this property, and the Gibson School was on School Street where the Holmes School is today. The Gibson School house on School Street was named in honor of Christopher Gibson, an early donor to the schools of Dorchester. A school house was built in 1857 (presumably at the new location) a portion of the expense being met by generous gifts from the Hon. Edmund P. Tileston and Roswell Gleason.
According to Orcutt, in 1881 the Gibson School was moved to what later became the Atherton Building on Columbia Street (now Road). Later the name was moved to another building on Bowdoin Avenue that in 1894 was used as the Francis A. Brooks Grammar School. The street name was changed between 1910 and 1918 to Ronald Street, so the address became 16 Ronald Street.
Winthrop School
Location: River Street
Teacher: Isaac Swan
Assistant: Mary J. Greenwood
Local Committee: Dr. John P. Spooner
Located on the south side of River Street approximately opposite Old Morton Street (formerly Forest Hill Avenue). In 1874 this was the Stoughton School. Orcutt says that in January, 1856, the Washington School opened in Neponset, combining the Stoughton and Neponset Schools, freeing up the name Stoughton. The school on River Street at the Lower Mills, which opened in March, 1856, was named in honor of Gov. William Stoughton, Dorchester's most prominent citizen of the latter half of the seventeenth century.
The schools built in this period were: Washington School (Jan., 1856) in Neponset; Everett School (Feb., 1856) on Sumner Street opposite Albright Court; Stoughton School (March, 1856); Mather School (Sept., 1856) on Meeting House Hill; Gibson School (May, 1857) on School Street; Harris School (1861) on Adams Street; and Tileston School (1868) on Norfolk Street. Of all these buildings, the Stoughton is the only to survive.
Norfolk School
Location: Upper Mills
Teacher: Simon Barrows
Local Committee: William Clark
Located on the west side of Babson Street (formerly Norfolk) south of the intersection with Fremont Street. In 1874 this property seems to have been owned by Charles Thompson. Orcutt says that the Tileston School, that was located on the east side of Babson Street north
of Fremont, was opened in 1868.
Butler School
Location: Sumner Mills
Teacher: Ebenezer Tolman
Local Committee: Elihu Greenwood
Located on the north side of River Street between Huntingon and Wood Avenues. This area became part of Hyde Park when that town was formed.
Washington School
Location: Little Neck
Teacher: John Kneeland
Local Committee: Dexter E. Wadleigh
Located at Andrew Square (formerly Washington Village). This area became part of the city of Boston in the 1850s, being attached to South Boston. The name Washington School was transferred to the new school in Neponset when it opened in January, 1856.
Intermediate Schools
Eliot School
Location: Adams, Lower Mills
Teacher: Almira French
Local Committee: Dr. John P. Spooner
Located on Adams Street just east of Lower Mills, approximately where Standish Village is located today. In 1874 this property was owned by T.R. Collins.
Neponset School
Location: Neponset Village
Teacher: Abby French
Local Committee: O. Putnam Bacon
Located on the north side of Chickatawbut Street to the east of the First Baptist Church but behind and north of another building. In 1874 this property was owned by Abigail Blanchard. The school in the neighborhood is the Washington School on the north side of Walnut Street next to the Methodist Church and not as far east at the engine house.
Orcutt says that in January, 1856, the Washington School opened in Neponset, combining the Stoughton and Neponset Schools, freeing up the name Stoughton for the new school building on River Street. So where was the earlier Stoughton School?
Maverick School
Location: Harrison Square
Teacher: A.S. Wright
Local Committee: Increase S. Smith
Located on Freeport Street (formerly Commercial Street) southeast of Mill Street at about Everdean Street. No longer there in 1874.
Primary Schools
Everett School
Location: Sumner Street
Teacher: Sarah R. Pearson
Assistant: Eliza O. Pearson
Local Committee: Rev. Thomas B. Fox
Mather School
Location: Meeting House Hill
Teacher: Mary Pearson
Assistant: Betsey Hooper
Local Committee: John H. Robinson
Adams School
Location: Adams Street
Teacher: Elizabeth Fletcher
Local Committee: Lewis F. Pierce
Gibson School
Location: School Street
Teacher: Lucy P. Tolman
Local Committee: Samuel Hall
Winthrop School
Location: River Street
Teacher: Elizabeth J. Stetson
Assistant: Elizabeth Ruggles
Local Committee: Dr. John P. Spooner
Norfolk School
Location: Upper Mills
Teacher: Martha Baker
Local Committee: William Clark
Butler School
Location: Sumner Mills
Teacher: Ann Tolman
Local Committee: Elihu Greenwood
Neponset School
Location: Neponset Village
Teacher: Mary C. Seaverns
Local Committee: O. Putnam Bacon
Maverick School
Location: Harrison Square
Teacher: Mary E. Tolman
Local Committee: Increase S. Smith
Washington School
Location: Little Neck
Teacher: R.G. Hovey
Assistant: A.M. Sheldon
Local Committee: Dexter E. Wadleigh
Bowdoin School
Location: Mount Bowdoin
Teacher: Susan W. Tolman
Local Committee: Samuel Hall
Located at the foot of Mt. Bowdoin at the southwest corner of the intersection of Columbia Road and Brinsley Street/Geneva Avenue (formerly Green Street). In 1874 this was the Atherton School.
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Created: April 23, 2011 Modified: April 23, 2011
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