For many years, Peter Hackett was Chairman of the Northbridge Historical Commission and a weekly columnist for the Blackstone Valley Tribune. Hackett's columns were published in the Tribune in 1958, 1967-1981.
The following column was written shortly before his death.
It was intended for inclusion in a pamphlet to be distributed to Northbridge Center School reunion participants. The reunion was scheduled for Saturday, September 5, 1981.
Here is the re-print of Hackett’s weekly column from September 2, 1981:
Sept. 2, 1981
Blackstone Valley Tribune
Peter Hackett’s “Historical Sidelights”
"Northbridge Center School reunion prompts recall"
In the “Historical Sketch” of the book “Whitinsville, Massachusetts” we read:
“Education and religious worship have ever held a prominent place in the development of Northbridge.”
The Sketch then goes on to say that the schools were first kept in private homes, but soon grew to require houses of their own, so that by 1795 or 1800, school buildings were begun.
The school house now (1906) used at Northbridge Center is the fourth one built. The first one was just next to the present one. The old stone door step is still there, but no other part of the building remains.
August 6, 1980, I went to the VFW yard (old school yard) but saw no indication of a door step, although there were several fairly large stones flush with the surfaces of the filled-in gravel.
There used to be a well house at the front, near the road, now inside the wire fence, on the right hand, facing the building. I think I saw the indication of that well house. Nearby is the bronze table naming the yard Batcheller Park. It is placed on a large stone which, on second thought, might well be on the door step in question (John Rogers says no – the stone was found in the woods.)
In my “Historical Sidelights” column, August 5, 1981, I refer to the paper written by the late Alice Bachelor Johnston. She says, “It has been supposed that the first school was on the site of the present one (1920). A second school house was built (on the hill) and afterwards moved a mile to the other side of the hill and still stands next to the Babcock-Glashower farm, and used as a dweller house (house where Osterman lived).”
The third school house in Northbridge Center was built in 1845 and abandoned for school purposes in 1870, moved to Whitinsville, near St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church.
The following I consider very important:
Miss Ella W. Aldrich began her long career as a teacher in Northbridge Center afterwards going to Whitinsville.
Mrs. Johnson said of Ella Aldrich,
“Her great ability and her extended years of work are worthy of more than this mention.”
In 1890, the Grammar School building was built as a High School and named the Ella Aldrich School *.
In my time 1910-1911, Miss Piper and Miss MacIntosh were the teachers.
By: Peter Hackett
______________________________________________________________________________________
*notes:
1) The Ella Aldrich School:
-Was the first high school in Northbridge.
-Was built in 1890 at 14 Hill Street, Whitinsville.
-Later became the Town’s Grammar School.
-In 2009 it became the Aldrich School Town Hall Annex.
2)The current Middle School on Linwood Ave. was built in 1906. It was the fourth school house built
in town.
3) The current High School on Linwood Ave. was first occupied in September 2001.
Also note:
In September 1981, Dr. Henry F. Sullivan, M.D. announced his retirement form the practice
of general practitioner medicine. Dr. Sullivan practiced in Blackstone Valley towns for over
30 years, and was a physician at the Fallon Clinic in Worcester for the last 14 years of his career.
S. J. Buma April 1, 2021
The following column was written shortly before his death.
It was intended for inclusion in a pamphlet to be distributed to Northbridge Center School reunion participants. The reunion was scheduled for Saturday, September 5, 1981.
Here is the re-print of Hackett’s weekly column from September 2, 1981:
Sept. 2, 1981
Blackstone Valley Tribune
Peter Hackett’s “Historical Sidelights”
"Northbridge Center School reunion prompts recall"
In the “Historical Sketch” of the book “Whitinsville, Massachusetts” we read:
“Education and religious worship have ever held a prominent place in the development of Northbridge.”
The Sketch then goes on to say that the schools were first kept in private homes, but soon grew to require houses of their own, so that by 1795 or 1800, school buildings were begun.
The school house now (1906) used at Northbridge Center is the fourth one built. The first one was just next to the present one. The old stone door step is still there, but no other part of the building remains.
August 6, 1980, I went to the VFW yard (old school yard) but saw no indication of a door step, although there were several fairly large stones flush with the surfaces of the filled-in gravel.
There used to be a well house at the front, near the road, now inside the wire fence, on the right hand, facing the building. I think I saw the indication of that well house. Nearby is the bronze table naming the yard Batcheller Park. It is placed on a large stone which, on second thought, might well be on the door step in question (John Rogers says no – the stone was found in the woods.)
In my “Historical Sidelights” column, August 5, 1981, I refer to the paper written by the late Alice Bachelor Johnston. She says, “It has been supposed that the first school was on the site of the present one (1920). A second school house was built (on the hill) and afterwards moved a mile to the other side of the hill and still stands next to the Babcock-Glashower farm, and used as a dweller house (house where Osterman lived).”
The third school house in Northbridge Center was built in 1845 and abandoned for school purposes in 1870, moved to Whitinsville, near St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church.
The following I consider very important:
Miss Ella W. Aldrich began her long career as a teacher in Northbridge Center afterwards going to Whitinsville.
Mrs. Johnson said of Ella Aldrich,
“Her great ability and her extended years of work are worthy of more than this mention.”
In 1890, the Grammar School building was built as a High School and named the Ella Aldrich School *.
In my time 1910-1911, Miss Piper and Miss MacIntosh were the teachers.
By: Peter Hackett
______________________________________________________________________________________
*notes:
1) The Ella Aldrich School:
-Was the first high school in Northbridge.
-Was built in 1890 at 14 Hill Street, Whitinsville.
-Later became the Town’s Grammar School.
-In 2009 it became the Aldrich School Town Hall Annex.
2)The current Middle School on Linwood Ave. was built in 1906. It was the fourth school house built
in town.
3) The current High School on Linwood Ave. was first occupied in September 2001.
Also note:
In September 1981, Dr. Henry F. Sullivan, M.D. announced his retirement form the practice
of general practitioner medicine. Dr. Sullivan practiced in Blackstone Valley towns for over
30 years, and was a physician at the Fallon Clinic in Worcester for the last 14 years of his career.
S. J. Buma April 1, 2021