The Paradise Schoolhouse represents a unique opportunity
to examine the evolution of a school building through
over one hundred years of technological advancement.
The 4th School District bought one-third of an acre from
the Whitman family for $450 on August 30, 1875. The deed
included the right to the loose stones along the wall;
also, "there must be a good and lawful fence around the
property and the crops that were then growing on the
land be allowed to ripen and be harvested." The property
is recorded in the Town Hall as lot 99, Plate 120.
Mr. Joseph Coggeshall was contracted to build the
schoolhouse for $2,394. The building was to measure 38
feet long, 25 feet wide and 15 fee high.
The present Paradise School, built in 1875, has remained
virtually untouched through the years. The building is a
classic one-room country school edifice. It is of wood,
"balloon" construction, consisting of a one-room, one-
story, bracketed style structure with bell tower, two
separate entries in the gable end with bracketed hoods,
flanking a joined pair of windows. A small brick chimney
Rises near the rear. Bracketed hoods protect the side
windows.
The exterior of the building is painted in its original
yellow with brown trim and green doors. The bell tower,
blown down in the 1954 hurricane, was meticulously
reproduced and replaced. The original school bell,
mysteriously missing for many years, was found and
re-hung. Original inside woodwork, plaster, shutters and
blackboards are in place. Original ceiling lights from
another old schoolhouse replaced the modern fluorescent
lighting.
This single building illustrates the conversion from a
wood and coal pot-bellied stove, to a coal, then oil
fired hot water, central heating system, to today's
oil-fired, hot air central system; interior plumbing
replacing the outdoor "privies' and drinking water drawn
from a well in tin pails with a communal ladle; and from
natural daylight to electric light for illumination. The
original classroom had a platform at the front (east
end) to elevate the teacher’s desk and a raised platform
in the rear (west end) to allow the children to reach
the bookcases.
A typical Middletown one-room schoolhouse was a heavy
responsibility for one teacher who may have had as many
as 42 students and who was expected to teach all
subjects to all ages from 7 to 16, while maintaining
discipline. Regular studies pursued included: Reading,
Writing, Arithmetic (mental and written). Geography,
Grammar, History, Physiology, Drawing and Spelling,
almost the same curriculum as a well staffed scholastic
institution. The school was in session from 9 a.m. to 12
o'clock and from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Older students regularly helped younger pupils.
Discipline was firm; orderliness and efficiency the
rule. The first-graders sat in front and worked their
way up to the rear desks by the time they reached Grade
8. For the most part, Middletown parents staunchly
supported their children's opportunity for education
that few of their parents had enjoyed.
At the school's dedication, the Newport Mercury of
December 18, 1875 reported: "For the accommodation of
the rising generation, forty-two desks and chairs were
placed in the room, which is elegantly and substantially
furnished, the walls being finished in ash and the desks
in cherry."
On the occasion of handing over the building's keys to
the Trustees, the Chairman of the building committee,
William F. Peckham, expressed "to a hope that the girls
and boys who were to be educated here would turn out to
be ornaments to their fellow townspeople and their
immediate relatives."
The first class in Paradise School was conducted on
December 20, 1875 by Peleg Taylor Coggeshall.
Paradise School's significance lies in the fact that it
is one of five one-room schoolhouses built in Middletown
before the turn of the century. Four have survived:
Witherbee School (1892) has been fully restored and
equipped as a turn-of-the-century classroom for a school
fourth grade program entitled "Those Dear Old Golden
Rule Days." Oliphant School (1823) has been drastically
altered from one to three rooms and now serves as an
adjunct to the Middletown school administration
department. Peabody School (1794) was converted to a
private dwelling about 1928, and Wyatt School, since
demolished, is now the site of the town's police and
fire headquarters. Paradise School served as a classroom
until 1955, then as a school administration office and
storehouse, until vacated by the school department. In
1976 it was acquired by the newly formed Middletown
Historical Society. The Society has restored the
building for use as a Society headquarters and as a
small museum.
back to PROJECTS
The Paradise School was listed in the National Register
of Historic Places on May 5, 1978.
back to HISTORICAL
PLACES
