Beverly Grammar School

The Beverly Grammar School is a rare historic First Period schoolhouse in Beverly, Massachusetts, USA. The building, now a modest private residence, contains internal evidence that part of it was built c. 1716 for use as a schoolhouse. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[1]

Beverly Grammar School
Beverly Grammar School at 50 Essex
Beverly Grammar School is located in Massachusetts
Beverly Grammar School
Beverly Grammar School is located in the United States
Beverly Grammar School
Location50 Essex St.,
Beverly, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°33′6″N 70°52′34″W / 42.55167°N 70.87611°W / 42.55167; -70.87611
Built1716 (1716)
Architectural styleColonial
MPSFirst Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR
NRHP reference No.90000198[1]
Added to NRHPMarch 9, 1990

Description and history

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The former Beverly Grammar School building is located in a mainly residential area just north of downtown Beverly, on the west side of Essex Street between Charnock and Monroe Streets. It is a small single-story wood-frame structure, with a side gable roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. It has a five-bay front facade, with narrow one-over-one sash windows in the outer bays, and a projecting entry vestibule at the center. The interior consists of two chambers, a larger one on the left and a smaller one to the right.[2]

The building's internal structure is consistent with documentary evidence that its left side was built about 1716 as a schoolhouse. It has no evidence that it was built with a chimney (the present one was added in the 19th century for a stove), and the right-side chamber is a later 18th-century addition. Portions of the lath on the right side are decorated with what appear to be drawings by children, a suggestion that they were originally part of pupils' desks.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ a b "MACRIS inventory record and NRHP nomination for Beverly Grammar School". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-01-11.