Naugatuck opens first school in 1731

As Naugatuck was seeking its independence as a separate town, the school districts — which numbered as high as eight at one time — were fighting to retain their own autonomy.

Perhaps some of that Yankee stubbornness was simply rearing its head. And it wasn’t until 1920 that the schools were finally consolidated into one borough district.

Here’s a look into the past.

Center School was Naugatuck’s first schoolhouse. Built in 1731, it was a rustic, one-room clapboard structure, much like all the schools of the era. But for nearly 120 years more, the schools didn’t change much, except for the wood stoves that replaced the open fireplaces.

In the early days, it is believed that teachers went from one school to the next, boarding for four to six weeks in each.

When Judd’s Meadow became Salem Bridge in 1773, the society organized its own school committee. Local taxes of five pence to the pound were voted for the schools, and a local collector was appointed.

Additional schools were constructed in school districts that formed by the start of the nineteenth century: one in the Southwest District near the limits of Gunntown, another east of the river in 1778 for the Middle School District (which included sections of Milford and Derby); a third in the Pond Hill District in 1790; a fourth in Lewistown; and a fifth in Patridgetown.

Early in the new century, two additional districts were added: Straitsville in 1825 and the City District in 1830. Each district appointed its own school committee, maintained the schools, raised money for its own programs and supervised the teaching of the children.

Straitsville brought about the first graded school in the region, constructing a two-story schoolhouse. But for the most part, schools were ungraded, and pupils from 4 to 20 years old were crammed into rooms originally designed for half their number.

It was a young lawyer and member of the Board of School Visitors, General Stephen W. Kellogg, who sought the advice of Henry Barnard, Connecticut’s first Superintendent of Schools, about the appalling conditions of the schools.

Barnard agreed with Kellogg that the best solution was to consolidate the districts and construct a new, graded school that would include Naugatuck’s first high school.

Opposition to the proposal was bitter.

Only five districts — Center, Patridgetown, Lewistown, Union City and Pond Hill — agreed to consolidate. The three other districts remained autonomous.

The town raised $4,000 to build a central school and received approval to borrow another $2,500 for the new Union Center School district. The new school was built at the far end of the village green between two churches. It opened in 1852, the high school occupying the top floor, the elementary departments on the lower.

But the union of districts didn’t last. For some obscure reason, Union City withdrew in 1856, followed by Pond Hill.

New schoolhouses continued to be built in the districts with great assistance from private philanthropy. Salem School and the new high school, now Hillside School, were paid for by Naugatuck’s leading benefactor at the time, John Howard Whittemore, while Whittemore’s son, Harris, shouldered the cost of the new Hop Brook School.

Just prior to 1920, there were still seven school districts and 12 schools. Operations were directed by Superintendent of Schools Harold E. Chittenden, a six-member Board of Education, a three-member High School Committee and 10 members of the district committees.

After years of pleading for consolidation by the Board of Education, which had replaced the Board of School Visitors, consolidation of the districts was finally achieved.

Today, there can be no doubt that it improved the standard of schooling.

— ELLEN K. EHMAN

Source: Special Edition of the Naugatuck Daily News (1844 - Naugatuck Sesquicentennial - 1944)