Fisher School - Westwood, MA - One-Room Schoolhouses on Waymarking.com

In Westwood, along MA Route 109 and around the corner from the Westwood High School, is a small white building that once was the Fisher School, a one-room schoolhouse that was used from 1845 to about 1905 to teach children in the southern part of the area now known as Westwood.

The building is on High Street (Route 109), about a tenth mile north of the intersection with Nahatan Street.

The building is a rectangular building with an addition (modern), topped by a peaked, shingle roof. There is a recessed entrance at the front, with a door at either end. The entrance used is via the addition.

Inside, the facilities and storage rooms are in the addition. The classroom has been restored to its mid 1800s appearance. The room has a solid wood floor, with desks and chairs from various times though none of them date originally from the school. Blackboards are on the wall, and wallpaper is above the blackboards. Also, there is a clock on one wall, and a portrait of George Washington - which was originally hung in the school - on another wall.

The school was built in 1845 and became the District 9 school for the town of Dedham - Westwood had not broken off the town, yet. Later, when the schools were renamed after people, this one was named after Ebeneezer Fisher. As many as 40 students were taught at the school at a time, but, by 1905, only 8 were being taught in its last year of use. A farmer nearby, William Colburn, bought the school and moved it a short distance to his property and used it as a hay barn. He had cut a hole on one side to install a wide door, and put the structure on boulders, but otherwise left the structure as it was. This use actually may have been the best way to preserve the structure. In 1994, ownership was transferred to the Westwood Historical Society, who moved it in 1995 to the present location and spent the next decade restoring the building to its mid-1800s appearance. Details of the restoration can be found on the web site.

Today, the school is the only one-room schoolhouse in Dedham or Westwood. The Westwood Historical Society currently opens the school on the first Sunday of the month 2 - 4 pm. The facility is fully handicapped accessible.

Original or Re-creation?: Original Year the school first opened.: 01/01/1845 Year the school closed.: 01/01/1905 Is the schoolhouse still open as a school?: no Address: 830 High Street Westwood, MA United States of America 02090 Web Address (if available): [Web Link] Does the school offer 19th century classroom reenactments or day camps?: yes

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