The Ames Schoolhouse is a historic school building at 450 Washington Street in
Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...
. It was originally part of the
Dedham Public Schools
The Dedham Public School System (Dedham Public Schools) is a PK– 12 graded school district in Dedham, Massachusetts. It is the oldest public school system in the United States.
History
On January 2, 1643, the Town Meeting set aside land for ...
. It currently serves as the
town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
and senior center for the Town of Dedham.
[
The Colonial Revival structure was built in 1897. It was named in honor of ]American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
-era politician Fisher Ames. It is a large H-shaped building, with a central section flanked by symmetrical projecting bays on either side. It has a hip roof with a deep dentillated eave, and pilastered corners. The main entrance is set under broad arch at the center, with a Palladian window above.
1644 AMES SCHOOL 1897
Named in honor of Fisher Ames. A native of Dedham,
a wise statesman. And a friend of Washington. "With a
united government well administered, we have nothing to
fear and without it nothing to hope."
The building was dedicated in June 1898. On the first floor, in addition to the master's room and teachers' room, were eight classrooms. Each classroom was 28' by 36' and was designed for 56 students. At the southern end of the second floor were four classrooms, the library, and a chemical lab. The northern end housed the main hall with a stage and two dressing rooms.
In 1937, it was painted and renovated by the Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
.[ The building was listed on the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1983[ On June 19 and 20, 2020, most departments moved from the old town hall into the Ames Schoolhouse.][ The annual town election was delayed in 2020 due to the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, and so the Town Clerk's office remained at the old town hall until the end of June.[
The senior center portion of the building includes an outdoor patio, arts and crafts room, fitness center, media room, lounge, and more.][
]
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Notes
References
Works cited
*
*
Schoolhouses in Massachusetts
School buildings completed in 1898
School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Shingle Style architecture in Massachusetts
Schools in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Dedham, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Town halls in Massachusetts
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