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The
following history of the Plainfield schools is reprinted by permission.
It is taken from The Town of Plainfield Vermont, A Pictorial History
1870-1940 © 1993 by the Plainfield Historical Society.
The
village School District NO.1 built the first schoolhouse in town just
east of what would become the site of the Plainfield Inn in 1803-1804.
This school was paid for by a tax, one-third money and two-thirds wheat.
It burned in 1806 or 1807, and another was built in 1807 at the junction
of Barre Hill Road and the Brook Road. In 1826 the district formed a
union with Marshfield and a schoolhouse was built in the village near
the Marshfield town line north of the river. It is not clear in this
1826 building burned, was torn down, or moved, bit in 1866 the District
built a brick building on School Street, shown below, near the old one
at a cost of $6,000. On October 22, 1903, this building was destroyed
by fire.
 Plainfield Village School District 1 c. 1880 |
The following early photographs show both classes and the unusual architectural style of the 1866 village school building. |
| Back row - Left to Right: Teacher-Blanche Cutler, Augustus Foster, Herbert Cate, Charles Billings, Rudolph Cutting, Grace Noble, Lena Pitkin, Grace Duke, Ruth Perry, Linnie Foster, Carrie Annis, Mildred Hollister. Front Row: Raymond Parks, Eileen Parks, Alice Hudson, Lilla Brown, Bartlett Ricker, Perley Batchelder, Alice Pike, Harold Perry, Maude Flood. |  Plainfeld Village School Class of 1890 |
 Plainfield Village School Class of 1895 |
Back Row - Left to Right: Helen Martin, Sadie Fredickson, Alice Batchelder, Marion Cutler, Clara Bruffee, Delta Perkins, BessieFlood, Margaret Mansfield, Evelyn Perry, Neva Rinker, Teacher - Katherine (Page) McKnight. Front Row: Walter McLoud, Arthur Bolles, Daniel Hudson Jr., Clyde Bailey, Leamond Shorey, Howard hamel, Mark Morse, Reuben Hudson, Henry Batchelder. |
In 1904 a wooden building was erected on the site of the burned brick school. It provided room on the first floor for primary and elementary students and a large grammar room and assembly hall on the second floor. A high school was added in 1907. The building originally had a peaked hip roof that proved to be prone to leakage. It was altered by Leroy Fortney to the shape we see today. Although midified internally several times, the building served as a school until 1969.
 Plainfield Village School c. 1904 |
 East Hill School District 7 Class of 1895 |
Back Row - Left to Right: Unknown, Gertie Farnsworth, Murray Martin, Teacher-Mrs. Fred Cree (Robinson), Maude Bemis, Inez Bemis, Arthur Townsend, Daisy Bemis, Bertha Kellog, Frank Woodcock. Front Row: Grover Townsend, Arthur Woodcock, Gordon Robinson.
|
In 1873 "Beers"
map shows nine school districts in Plainfield. The District 2 "Mosquito"
School and the District 4 "Lane" School closed in the late
1800's. The "Mosquito" School was sold to Hans Fredrickson
for $100 in 1907 and was moved. Since the number of hill farms and population
had declined since the mid-1800's, the use of the District 8 "Spring"
or "Tucker" School and the District 7 East Hill School varied
with enrollments. They both closed in the mid-1930's.
 East Hill School District 7 c. 1910 Courtesy: Ben Koenig |
At times Plainfield
students from Joint District 7 went to the Marshfield Four Corners School
on Maple Hill, and the students from Plainfield's District 3 and Joint
District 12 went to Barre or East Montpelier. The District 6 or South
School operated, depending on enrollments, sometimes closing, sometimes
sending students to the Barre School as short distance away, until 1943.
The original Center School, built in 1827, was located a short distance
south of its present location. The present Center School was constructed
in 1866. It remained open in operation as a public school until the
late 1960's.
| Back Row - Left to Right: Miss Annie Flint (Sister of Nate Flint), Bertelle Lane, Edgar CoMstock, Raymond Page, Elmer Comstock, Ray Bartlett. Middle Row: Madella Shorey, Bessie Shorey, Edith Freeman, Wilber Freeman, Octavia Smith. Front Row: Burnham Colby, Ernest Waldo, Everett Waldo, Amy Bailaw, Don Freeman, Luke Daniels, Edith Shorey, and Beatrice Kellogg. |  Center School District 5 Class of 1899 |
 Center School District 5 c. 1916 |
|
Lest we forget,
school buses weren't always bright yellow! Daisy Bartlett drives
this "school bus" carrying Mildred Page on the right
with passengers from Left to Right: Amy and Ruth Bailaw, Marjorie
and Alice Bartlett.
|
 School Bus c. 1910 Courtesy: Howard Bartlett |
 The King School Class of 1892 Courtesy: MauriceTownsend |
Although located in Marshfield, on the Marshfield Road, the District 11 "King" School was the location of several prominent residents' early education.
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