The Louis I. Bussey School is a historic school building on United States Route 202 in

Dixmont, Maine Dixmont is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,211 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bangor Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Dixmont was originally granted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (of ...

. Built about 1808, it is the only surviving schoolhouse from the period of the town's early settlement. It 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 1976.

Description and history

The Bussey School is located in the rural village center of Dixmont, on the south side of US 202/

Maine State Route 9 State Route 9 (SR 9) is a numbered state highway in Maine, running from the New Hampshire border at Berwick in the west to the Canada–US border with New Brunswick at Calais in the east. SR 9 runs a total of . Route description Sta ...

, east of its junction with

Maine State Route 7 State Route 7 (SR 7) is part of Maine's system of numbered state highways, running from an interchange with U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Belfast, to an intersection with SR 15 in Dover-Foxcroft. Route 7 is long. Between Belfast and ...

. It stands just west of the Dixmont Corner Church. It is a single-story wood frame structure, with a gable roof and clapboard siding. The front-facing gable extends over a porch supported by chamfered square posts, with pilasters at the building corners. There are two identical entrances, each framed by sidelight windows and a simple architrave. The township that became Dixmont was granted in 1794 to

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

, which sold it in 1801 to Dr. Elijah Dix. In 1808 Dix gave the budding town funds for the construction of five district schools, of which this is the only one to survive. It was probably built with only modest vernacular styling of that period, its Greek Revival exterior probably the result of 1836 alterations. The school is named in honor of another community supporter. When it was listed on the

in 1976, it was owned by the Dixmont Ladies Club, and was used as a community meeting place.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Greek Revival architecture in Maine Buildings and structures completed in 1808 Buildings and structures in Penobscot County, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Penobscot County, Maine

Description and history

See also

References