The Ames Schoolhouse is a historic school building at 450 Washington Street in
Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham ( ) is a New England town, town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
First settled by E ...
. It was originally part of the
Dedham Public Schools. It currently serves as the
town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
and senior center for the Town of Dedham.
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]
Description
The Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...
structure was built in 1897. It was named in honor of American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
-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; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
.[ The building was listed on the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, 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
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Notes
References
Works cited
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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 Dedham, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Dedham, Massachusetts
Town halls in Massachusetts
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