Area less than one acre NRHP Reference # 97000309 Added to NRHP 15 April 1997 | Built 1843 (1843) Opened 1843 | |
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Location Jct. of Pleasant St. and Caribou Rd., SE corner, Passadumkeag, Maine Architectural styles Gothic Revival architecture, Greek Revival architecture | ||
The District No. 2 School is a historic schoolhouse at Pleasant Street and Caribou Road in Passadumkeag, Maine. Built in the 1840s as a school, it later served as a church, town hall, and library. It is now a museum operated by the local historical society, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Description and history
The District No. 2 School is located in Passadumkeag Village, at the northeast corner of Pleasant Street and Caribou Road, a short way east of Main Street (United States Route 2). It is a single-story wood frame structure, with a gable roof, clapboard siding, and a rubblestone foundation. Its main facade has a hip-roofed porch sheltering the entrance, supported by clustered columns. The entrance is flanked by fixed-sash windows, with a movable sash window in the gable above the porch. A square tower rises above the entrance, with a louvered belfry topped by a small spire surrounded by a pinnacled balustrade. The interior is composed of a large main room, which occupies the front two-thirds of the building, and a smaller room at the rear.
The schoolhouse was built sometime in the 1840s, and served the town's district encompassing its village center until 1902. It also served as a meeting place for local Baptist and Congregational churches until c. 1905. In 1915 the building was converted for use as a library, at which time the porch and interior room layout were added. Between 1946 and 1968 it was again used as a school, and in 1971 it was sold by the town and converted into a private residence. In 1986 the town bought it back, and gave it to the local historical society, which has restored it and established its museum there.