The History of Our Schools: Union Street School

Union Street School (1875), Union Street, Middleborough, MA, photograph,

early 20th century.

Though construction of a new schoolhouse on Union Street in 1875 helped

ease congestion in the nearby School Street School, its plain appearance was

was severely criticized immediately following its construction.  Poor

conditions within the building following the turn of the century and a fire on

October 11, 1916, caused by an overheated furnace added to the school's

woes.

During the 1930s, a series of short informal histories of the various Middleborough school houses were compiled by J. Stearns Cushing, Superintendent of Middleborough Schools from 1927 until 1955. Mr. Cushing prepared these histories for publication as a series in the Middleboro Gazette beginning on February 24, 1933. With information culled largely from town reports, the series entitled "The History of Our Schools" sought to provide the community with a better understanding of the past history of its public school buildings.  The Union Street School was built in 1875 to relieve congestion in the School Street School, then the sole school serving Middleborough Four Corners.  While the new school accomplished this goal, many residents at the time criticized the structure for its lackluster appearance which paled in comparison to the more ornamental School Street School which had been erected nearly a quarter century earlier.  Cushing quotes at length the School Committee's rebuttal at the time which placed blame for the school's appearance squarely upon the town's voters whose appropriation for the building was barely sufficient to cover the cost of its construction.

Union Street School

In the reports of the School Committees of the years previous to 1875 the plea for a new school house in the Center was constantly and insistently urged to relieve the Primary and Intermediate grades.  Pupils were promoted just to get rid of the crowding in these lower grades and the Committee report that "none of these classes were qualified for promotion, and consequently the grade of all the schools has been lowered".  The Committee go on to say that "the only objection to building a new school house is, of course, the expense.  But the money view of the matter is not the only, nor the chief one.  Too much economy in educational matters is the worst of economy.  The good of the schools should be the paramount consideration."

The town meeting of that year voted to build a new house on the present site and the Committee consisting of S. Chapin, A. H. Soule, and J. F. Shurtleff supervised the construction.  When the house was completed there evidently was more or less criticism as to its appearance and in the year 1876 the same Committee report as follows: "During the past year a new school-house, so long needed in District No. 18, has been built, and is now occupied, enabling us to relieve the Primary school of its superabundance of scholars.  This house has been the subject of much unreasonable and unjust fault finding.  Unreasonable and unjust, because the Committee built just such a house a the town authorized them to build.  The town had full power to build whatever kind of house it pleased, small or large, cheap or costly, plain or ornamental, of brick, stone, iron, rosewood or hemlock.  It had only to vote for it, and appropriate money to pay for it.  The building committee were, for the time being, the servants of the town, and it was their duty to build such a house as the town ordered for the money which the town appropriated, and they had no right to build any other.  The town voted to build a plain, two-story, wooden house, not to cost over $6,000, including the land.  The committee obeyed orders implicitly, built such a house as the town ordered, and kept the expenses within the appropriation.  We cannot see, therefore, how the voters of the town can justly blame anybody but themselves if the house does no suit them.  If they wanted the house ornamented to the extent of $500 or $1,000 they could have had it by voting for it.  But they voted for a PLAIN house, and appropriated barely money enough to pay for it, and carefully instructed the committee not to exceed the appropriation, and then blamed them because they did not build an ornamental house which would inevitably have cost several hundred dollars more than the appropriation.  Consistency is a jewel.  The only reason why the committee put in no ventilating apparatus was because they knew of none worth putting in.  There is a great deal of ventilating apparatus in the market, very nice, very expensive, and very useless - most of it.  e have some fine specimens of such in this town, and the committee did not care to have more."

"The house is a good-looking, substantial building, thoroughly good in every part, of good material and good workmanship, with large, convenient, comfortable, and very pleasant school-rooms, and ample entries and stairways."

"The rooms were made large enough so that when the increase in the number of scholars shall require it - as will probably be the case in a few years - a small addition can be made to the rear end of the house, and a recitation room made for each classroom, each teacher to be allowed an assistant, and enough scholars put into each room for the two teachers.  Thus the house will accommodate the equivalent of four schools."

In 1878, two years later, these rooms were found to be more than full and in the following year the addition proposed was built.  The report of 1883 tells us that "this enlargement was built, as voted in town meeting, but, contrary to the wishes of a majority of the school committee, and though serving to furnish rooms for the pupils for a time, has been a constant source of annoyance to committee, teachers, and scholars, for besides the confusion made by the continued passing of scholars from one room to another, the form of the rooms makes them models of inconvenience, being thirty-four feet wide by fourteen and one half long.  This places the teacher in the middle of a long row of pupils, and, until teachers can be found who have their eyes located like birds, we shall fail of the best results."

Six thousand dollars was appropriated for the erection of this Union Street building including the cost of the lot.  W[arren] H. Southworth was the contractor and builder and the total cost of cellar, house, and furniture totaled $4,783.51.  The entire cost of the lot was $1,857 but Union Street was cut off from the lot and sold to the town for $498, also the committee promised a piece of this land to a Mr. Lucas [who resided in a house on the present site of the Church of Our Saviour] which reduced the cost of the lot several hundred dollars more.  Thus the building came within the appropriation provided.

In the year 1916 there was considerable agitation regarding conditions in the building and the toilets were overhauled and placed in excellent condition, new floors were laid, the walls painted, ceilings kalsomined, furniture varnished, and the entire building put into first class condition.  On October eleventh of that year, after seven days of school, a fire broke out between the partitions badly damaging the building.  The report of the fire says "It broke out just before the opening of school in the morning.  The teachers are to be commended for their coolness in the situation in getting their pupils out of the building in an orderly manner and avoiding that dread of all school-house fires - a panic.  It was a good illustration of the fire-drill training."

"After a consideration of the matter as to the repairs to be made the Peirce trustees offered to finance the cost of repairs in the building and to install a heating and ventilating system.  The building has been restored to as good a condition as before the fire, and an excellent heating and ventilating system installed.  The toilets and corridors are heated and 14 radiators distributed over the building insure comfortable rooms in the coldest weather.  Electric lights have been placed in the basement and each teacher's desk is also thus equipped."

This building now [1933] houses two first and two second grades.  The rooms, with the exception of the one room on the lower floor, are all small and not well adapted for Primary grades where there should be space for group work and reading activities.

Space does not permit the listing of the numerous teachers of this building from the time of its occupancy but I shall include those of the last forty years.  Some of the names found in the early years previous are those of John I. Rackliffe, Sarah L. Arnold, Lizzie J. Wilson, Annie A. Lovell, Henry L. Armes, Austin Turner, Emma W. Osborne, Abbie F. Brett and many others.  Beginning in the year 1892 the teachers of the school have been as follows:

1892
Julia M. Barry
Carrie E. Alden

1893
Julia M. Barry
Eleanor A. Barden

1894
Laura J. Blaisdell
Eleanor A. Barden

1895
Florence E. Thompson
Eleanor A. Barden
Edith A. Roberts

1896
Ruth D. Stevens
H. Gertrude Holmes
Susan E. White

1897
Mabel L. Prevear
Sophie S. Hammond
Lucy P. Burgess
Emma N. Phinney

1898
Carrie D. Peterson
Sophie S. Hammond
Lucy P. Burgess
Emma N. Phinney

1899
Carrie D. Peterson
Mrs. W. J. Taylor
Lucy P. Burgess
Emma N. Phinney

1900
Alma L. Hodgdon
Bessie B. Gibbs
Mattie M. Bennett

1901
Florence L. Dean
Laura A. Holmes
May L. Stone
Mattie M. Bennett

1902
Florence L. Dean
Laura A. Holmes
Cassie M. Brehaut
Mattie M. Bennett

1903
Florence L. Dean
Calista F. Hathaway
Catherine M. Brehaut
Mattie M. Bennett

1904
Florence L. Dean
Calista F. Hathaway
Catherine M. Brehaut
Mattie M. Bennett

1905
Florence L. Dean
Veretta F. Shaw
Effie D. Williams
Maude D. Perry

1906
Karin L. Ekman
Veretta F. Shaw
A. Delle Alden
Maude D. Perry

1907
Lucy P. Burgess
Lottie N. Bessie
A. Blanche C. Dudley

1908
Lucy P. Burgess
Lottie N. Bessie
A. Blanche C. Dudley

1909
Lucy P. Burgess
Lottie N. Bessie
Ruth W. Holloway

1910
Lottie N. Bessie
Bessie B. Bailey
Faye H. Deane
Alice M. Ward

1911
Eleanor A. Barden
Laura A. Bump
Lottie N. Lang
Bessie B. Bailey

1912
Eleanor A. Barden
Laura A. Bump
Lottie N. Lang
Bessie B. Bailey

1913
Eleanor A. Barden
Laura A. Bump
Lottie N. Lang
Bessie B. Bailey

1914
Eleanor A. Barden
Laura A. Bump
Lottie N. Lang
Bessie B. Bailey

1915
Eleanor A. Barden
Laura H. Hudson
Lottie N. Lang
Alice M. Ward

1916
Eleanor A. Barden
Laura H. Hudson
Lottie N. Lang
Alice M. Ward

1917
Eleanor A. Barden
Laura H. Hudson
Lottie N. Lang
Alice M. Ward

1918
Eleanor A. Barden
Laura H. Hudson
Lottie N. Lang
Alice M. Ward

1919
Eleanor A. Barden
Sara E. Thurston
Lottie N. Lang
Alta E. Battles

1920
Eleanor A. Barden
Sara E. Thurston
Lottie N. Lang
Alta E. Crosby

1921
Eleanor A. Barden
Sara E. Thurston
Lottie N. Lang
Alice R. Begley

1922
Eleanor A. Barden
Sara E. Thurston
Lottie N. Lang
Alice R. Begley

1923
Eleanor A. Barden
Sara E. Thurston
Lottie N. Lang
Esther M. Thomas

1924
Eleanor A. Barden
Lottie N. Lang
Louise C. Shankle
Sara E. Thurston

1925
Eleanor A. Barden
Lottie N. Lang
Bessie B. Bailey
Marjorie McClusky
Lillian W. Tinkham

1926
Eleanor A. Barden
Lottie N. Lang
Bessie B. Bailey
Marjorie McClusky
Lillian W. Tinkham

1927
Eleanor A. Barden
Marjorie McClusky
Sara E. Thurston
Eva Grant

1928
Eleanor A. Barden
Marjorie McClusky
Sara E. Matheson
Eva Grant

1929
Eleanor A. Barden
Marjorie McCluskey
Sara E. Matheson
Mabel I. Guidoboni

1930
Eleanor A. Barden
Marjorie McCluskey
Sara E. Matheson
Mabel I. Guidoboni

1931
Eleanor A. Barden
Marjorie McClusky
Sara E. Matheson
Mabel I. Guidoboni

1932
Eleanor A. Barden
Marjorie McClusky
Sara E. Matheson
Mabel I. Guidoboni

It is surely fitting at the close of this article to pay a just tribute to the service of the present Principal of the school, Miss Eleanor A. Barden. After her first year teaching in Waterville she transferred to this school where she taught for the next three years. Then serving faithfully in other schools of our town for the next few years she returned to Union Street as Principal in 1911 which position she has held since that date. Her service has been one of devotion to her work and efficient in execution always an inspiration and help to those teachers who have worked with her within the school. The town surely should be proud and thankful for such service.

The original Union Street School was demolished and replaced by a modern brick structure built in 1937.  Lumber salvaged during the demolition was later used to help construct the bleachers at Battis Field.

Sources:
Cushing, J. Stearns. "The History of Our Schools: Forest Street School". Photostatic copy of original manuscript, 1932-33. Author's collection.