Intermediate School 1903

Intermediate School 1903

The Intermediate or Upper Grammar School was built in1827 and shared the Common on Church Street with the old high school (on the right) which was built in 1824. Miller Street is to the left of the Grammar School. (photo 1903) In 1827 the number of children between four and twenty-one years of age, which by the law of the State are made the objects of instruction, in 1826 was 1,183, as appears on the town record. The number actually schooled may be estimated to exceed one thousand. And, during the summer months, one hundred, at least, of those under four years of age enjoy the privilege of public instruction." That year, it was voted to unite districts Nos. 4 and 5, which comprised the village, into a district to be called No. 5. This arrangement caused the erection, the following season, of what was known as the Upper Grammar School, the brick school-house on the Common. It is fifty-seven feet by thirty-two, and was designed to accommodate four hundred children. When this building and the adjacent high school were determined to be unsafe, a long battle ensued to fund construction of a new high school. The building, along with the old high school was razed in 1923 to make way for the construction of the modern William G. Crosby High School at an expense of almost $186,000.