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Box 212 Monroe, CT 06468
(Return to index) by Joel Leneker
Located north of the Stepney Green at 37 Hattertown Road is the Birdsey's Plain Schoolhouse owned by Leo and Jody Poisson. This schoolhouse was one of seven schoolhouses throughout Monroe. The construction, in 1801, of the Bridgeport and Newtown Turnpike (modern-day Route 25) and in 1833 of the Monroe and Newtown Turnpike (modern-day Hattertown Road) spurred development where the roads intersected. This area was called Birdsey's Plain, after Joseph Birdsey, who settled in the area around 1780. Many schoolhouses were located in and around populated centers of commerce and near intersections of major carriage routes since many of the children walked to school. The Monroe and Newtown Turnpike was later named Hattertown Road since the road led to the village of "Hattertown" in Newtown where hatting was the chief industry in the 19th Century. The small, simple district schoolhouse was the cornerstone of public education in Connecticut from the colonial era into the twentieth century. By 1850 Monroe was divided into seven school districts, each with its own building. The Birdsey's Plain schoolhouse was built around 1830, when Monroe's population had grown to about 1,500. District schoolhouses usually consisted of just one room. The Birdsey's Plain schoolhouse, designed in the Greek Revival style, had two rooms. This may have been to accommodate the growing population of the community of Birdsey's Plain. District schools were sparsely furnished, for taxpayers spent as little as possible on them. Students, ranging in age from near toddlers to late teens, were all taught by one teacher who had no special training as a teacher. Equipment was basic, and students often had to supply their own books and slates to write on. A single stove heated the building in winter. Water had to be drawn from a well, and many schools even lacked outhouses. In 1872, 61 students were enrolled in the Birdsey's Plain school. However, the number present on any given day could vary; depending on how badly a boy or girl was needed to work at home or how much importance their parents put on formal education. The state didn't make school attendance compulsory until the late 1800s. Students were taught the "three R's" - "Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic," along with some history, geography, or science. Whatever they learned at the district schoolhouse was all the formal education many students ever received. Towns had been divided into school districts primarily because children had to walk to school. By 1935, Monroe had stone paved roads upon which buses transported students from any part of town in a matter of minutes. That year the seven local school districts were "consolidated." Thereafter, Monroe children from first through eighth grades attended the new Monroe Consolidated School, today the Monroe Elementary School. All of Monroe's district schoolhouses were auctioned off to private individuals. Six still stand and five have been transformed like this one, into private residences. The Birdsey's Plain Schoolhouse was a two-room structure built around the same time as the Stepney Schoolhouse, in the Greek Revival style. Architecturally, the Birdsey's Schoolhouse is a one and one-half story, gabled-roofed dwelling resting on a stone foundation. It is a wood framed, clapboard structure. The original fenestration would have been 6/6 with simple window surrounds. Despite its conversion to a dwelling, it retains its essential shape and vernacular form of an early 19th century school. Join us next time as we travel to the Stepney Volunteer Fire House #1, located at eighty-eight Main Street. This was Monroe's first volunteer fire company organized in 1916 and the site of many carnivals. The Stepney Heritage Trail, when completed, will identify 18 historic sites and many historically significant residences in celebration of the more than 250-year heritage of the village of Stepney, located in the town of Monroe. The Save Our Stepney Task Force is currently seeking funds through grants and private donations for the site markers and an orientation kiosk on the Stepney Green. Among the themes to be explored along the trail are the impact of changing modes of transportation on a community over two centuries; the rise and decline of local industry; the community's contribution of men and women, materiel, and supplies to the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War; the community's agricultural origins; and religious diversity. For more information or to make a donation to the Stepney Heritage Trail project please contact Joel Leneker at 203.375.0830. Sources: A Glimpse of Old Monroe, Edward N. Coffey, Historic and Architectural Resource Survey of Monroe, CT 2002, Diana Ross McCain, Project Historian, sponsored by the Connecticut Historical Commission This article was printed on 01/04/2006 in volume 2, issue 1 Previous article Next article |
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