The restored one room Nash Hill School sits proudly on a rise at 117 Nash Hill. Owned by the Williamsburg Historical Society, the building became a museum in 1986. This “little red schoolhouse” served the children in School District 5, established in 1786 . The school closed its doors in 1917, in the middle of World War I. When built, the original schoolhouse was known as Prudential Schoolhouse. In 1837, the town appropriated $189.90 to paint the existing schoolhouse venetian red with white trim—its current restoration colors.
Students attended two terms. The winter term began the Monday after Thanksgiving and ran 12 weeks. The summer term began the first Monday in May. The students walked to and from school, which was in session from 9 to 4 each day, most walking to and from school every day. Lessons, recitations, singing, and outdoor recess filled with games made up the day. All grades were together in that single room.
The teachers boarded with district families. In 1854, Helen E. James (then Helen Field) taught at the Nash Hill School. The families of each child scholar were assessed tuition of 1/2 a cord of wood per child—used to fill the cast-iron chunk stove that heated the building. Water for the students was carried to the school from a nearby farm. Students ate what they brought from home.
The last students left the school in 1917. During World War II, the schoolhouse was fitted with a telephone and was used as a base for plane watching, civil defense volunteer work, as recalled by Norma Wells Packard in 1986.
The schoolhouse and land were given to the Historical Society in 1971 by Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Curtis and Mr. and Mrs. Harold Smart. Restoration took dedicated volunteers many years to complete. Without electricity, the work was done with hand tools, by volunteer craftsmen like Ken Beals and Mert Bickford.
The opening of the restored building in 1986, furnished and equipped as it was c. 1910, was a festive occasion and one filled with stories and recollections by those who had attended the school as students. (Source: “Nash Hill School” brochure from the Williamsburg Historical Society.) The building has been open to the public as a museum on an occasional basis or by appointment. Did you have a family member who attended the Nash Hill School? Do you remember your early school days? Daria D’Arienzo, Meekins Archivist and photographer.
Posted to Facebook 9/14/2023
