Nomination for Fox Hill School

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 RECEIVED United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form DEC 2 91987 NATIONAL REGISTER This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines (Form 10-900a). Type all entries. 1. Name of Property historic name other names/site number Fox Hill School 2. Location street & number city, town state MA 81 Water Street Danvers code 025 county Essex code NA] not for publication NA vicinity 009 zip code 01923 3.

Classification Ownership of Property Xprivate public-local public-State J public-Federal Category of Property X building(s) district site structure object Name of related multiple property listing: NA Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing buildings sites structures objects 1 _Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register - 4. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, 1 hereby certify that this [X) nomination LJrequest for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. my opinion, the property mee does not meet the National Register criteria. See continuation sheet.

demue A Ydem Signature of certifying official Date Dec. 18,187 Executive Director, State Historic Preservation Officer State or Federal agency and bureau Massachusetts Historical Commission In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. See continuation sheet. Signature of commenting or other official Date State or Federal agency and bureau 5. National Park Service Certification 1, hereby, certify that this property is: Dentered in the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined eligible for the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined not eligible for the National Register. Patrick Andurs 2/10/88 removed from the National Register. other, (explain:) Signature ofthe Keeper Date of Action 6.

Function or Use Fox Hill School, Danvers, Massachusetts Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions) Current Functions (enter categories from instructions) Education-school other-Daycare center 7. Description Architectural Classification (enter categories from instructions) Mid-19th Century-Greek Revival Materials (enter categories from instructions) foundation stone walls wood roof- other asphalt Describe present and historic physical appearance. The Fox Hill School, Danvers, a one-room schoolhouse built in 1879, occupies a smal1 but prominent corner lot of about 8,700 square feet at the intersection of Water Street (Mass. Rt. 35) and Endicott Street, in this suburban town nineteen miles north of Boston. The building faces east onto Water Street; it is set back about eighty feet from Water Street and six feet from Endicott Street.

The entire schoolyard is now landscaped to include a driveway, parking lot, and plantings of low shrubs and trees as well as a play area. The immediate neighborhood is residential, with eight modest turn-of-the-century houses ranged along Endicott Street and a half-dozen Federal-period residences north of the school on Water Street, built dur ing the heyday of this area (known as Danversport) as a shipbuilding and fishing The area to the west of this enclave, formerly the Endicott Farm, now almost entirely occupied by shopping centers, light manufactur ing, and highways. While a National Register-eligible residential district may be present around the school, its integrity has not yet been assessed. The school takes its name from Fox Hill, a barely perceptible hillock at the end of a peninsula that was granted to Governor John Endicott in 1632-1636.

It is surrounded on three sides by the Crane, Danvers, and Waters Rivers. A few successors to Endicott's fruit trees remain on the neighbor ing residential lots. The school is the second of that name in Danversport. The wood frame school is rectangular in plan and measures 25 feet by 40 feet. lt is a simple Greek Revival-style structure, 1 1/2-stories in height with front facing gable orientation. Its exterior is claboard-sheathed and it on a foundation of rubblestone. There is a full basement. pyr amidal-capped chimney (not original) on the ridge is sited close to the east end of the building. [X See continuation sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-800- 8-88 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number.

Page 1 Fox Hill School, Danvers, Massachusetts The east, main facade teatures two identical entrances--one for girls, one for boys--that comprise the two bays at the gable end. Each door is surmounted by a three-light fixed transom and set beneath a shallow-raking pediment. raised panel doors are original. Two modern porches, both with simple balustered rails, provide access to the schoolhouse. One is a straight run of four stairs; the other, with a small deck, has an inclined handicapped-access ramp that leads at a right angle out to the enclosed yard on the building's south side. The low-pitched gable terminates in returns. A single 6/6 sash window, with shallow-raked pediment, is centered in the gable and lights the attic. Narrow, unornamented cornerboards frame the building. The school is four bays deep with a broad entablature running the length of the building.

On the north (Endicott Street) side, a small fixed window at the northeastern end lights the former cloakroom. Threesymmetrically arranged windows complete the elevation's fenestration; all are simple 12/12 sash set beneath raking pediments. The south elevation is similar, except for the absence of the cloakroom window, removed in the mid-2oth century. The western (rear) elevation originally contained, on the first story, two 12/12 sash windows identical to those found elsewhere on the building. An. emergency door replaced the northwestern window ca. 1910-1930. The single gable window mirrors that found on the main facade. The building_plan originally consisted of a single classroom entered through separate girls' and boys' cloakrooms. Both the chimney and a stairway to the basement were located between the two cloakrooms.

While the large classroom space remains, the cloakrooms were converted to toilets and hallway ca. 1910- 1930. Today, one of the toilets has been returned to its original condition and serves as a reception area. The school is presently used as a childcare center. During renovation and restoration, the most prominent interior features, the chestnut matchboard wainscot, chalk rail, chair rail, and door and window frames, were returned to their original finish. The schoolhouse has no surviving outbuildings. Its small site at one time included a small bullding housing a fire pumper, the bullding for Hose Company No. 8, which was placed, in 1884, on the southeast corner.

(It was sold in 1925 and converted to a residence and is now located in the same block at 28 (Tocated in the sane blok at 2a Endicott Street.) There were also two privies for the use of schoolchildren, Tocated where there is now a paved park ing area. Dur ing the course of restoration, the property was landscaped and parking and play areas added. continued - NPS Form 10-000 8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number _7 Page 2 Fox Hill School, Danvers, Massachusetts OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 Archaeology While no prehistoric sites are currently recorded on the property, it is possible that sites are present. At least 13 sites have been reported in the general area (within one mile).

The physical characteristics of the property prior to European contact would have made this an attractive area for native settlement and subsistence activities. The school is located on a pen insula between the Crane and Waters Rivers, which join with the Porter River to form the Danvers River. This area has been the focus of intense development dur ing the historic period. Many favorable site locations around the periphery of these wetlands may have been altered or destroyed, though it is possible some sites survived. Since patterns of prehistoric occupation in Danvers are poor ly documented, any surviving sites would be significant. Regional as well as local significance might result from sites found in this area and their possible associations with sites along the Danvers River/North River area, Beverly Harbor, and Salem Harbor, al1 known areas of prehistoric settlement.

There is also a potential for significant historic remains on the property. Background research, controlled testing, and excavation may help to determine whether or not archaeological remains survive from settlement and economic activities that predated the school's construction. The area was originally part of a farm granted to John Endicott, industrial and shipping center. Archaeologica, and was later important as an remains may survive on the property from these activities and from the school: Two privies have been reported under the paved area on the property. Each of these sources could provide detailed information on the changing social, cultural, and economic patterns that characterized the development from rural life to commercial life in the Danversport area. 8. Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

Fox Hill School, Danvers, Massachusetts Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: nationally Lstatewide [Xlocally [Xc Applicable National Register Criteria Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Architecture Education LD LE LF LG Period of Significance 1879-1937 Significant Dates Cultural Affiliation NA Significant Person NA Architect/Builder George Russell State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above. The Fox Hill School, Danvers, a simple, one-room schoolhouse, reta ins integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, and association.

One of only two district schools to survive intact in Danvers, it served elementary school-age children in the Danversport section continuously from 1879 to 1974. The gab le front, 1 1/2-story school with intact Greek Revival-style detailing is a well-preserved example of its type and fulfils Criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places on the local 1evel. The Danversport section of Danvers, located on two small peninsulas formed by the confluence of the Crane, Waters, Porter, and Danvers Rivers, saw its first European settlement as part of John Endicott's 1632 land grant. By 1754, with Endicott's Orchard Farm largely broken up, the area, an ideal milling site, received its first commercial settlement with the establishment of grist and saw mills. By the Revolution, a small but lively shipbuilding and fishing industry had been established as well.

By the close of the 18th century, therefore, the village of Danversport was clearly established, a distinct community within the far larger town of Danvers. While a school was built in Danvers as early as 1708, the town's first district schoolhouse was built in 1777, and was_located near the site of the present (1852) Putnamville school (Danvers' only other intact district school), located 21/2 miles to the north of Danversport. In 1777, it was also voted to "set up a school for three months" in "New Mills" (Danversport). Classes were probably held in the Baptist meetinghouse, sited XSee continuation sheet 9.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References Fox Hill School, Danvers, Massachusetts Mss: School Committee Record Book, v. 5. School Committee Reports: 1880, 1884, 1888. Town Meeting Warrants, 1879 Accounts of Town of Danvers South Essex Registry of Deeds Danvers Archival Center, Peabody Institute Library Previous documentation on file (NPS): [X preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested HPCA #10212 MA previously listed in the National Register previously determined eligible by the National Register designated a National Historic Landmark recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # 10. Geographical Data Acreage of property Less than one acre.

Quad- Salem Scale- 1:25000 UTM References A 19 L3|412/01910 Zone Easting 4 7|1 2|41610 Northing CL1 See continuation sheet Primary location of additional data: [X] State historic preservation office Other State agency Federal agency J Local government University Other Specify repository: Massachusetts Historical Commission Inventory of Historic Assets BLI Zone DL Easting TLIIL Northing LILL See continuation sheet Verbal Boundary Description See Assessors Map. See continuation sheet Boundary Justification The bounds of the nominated property are those historically associated with the Fox Hill School. See continuation sheet 11. Form Prepared By organization Massachusetts Historical Commission namerite - James Dunke with Betsy Friedberg, Nationa I Register Düse tor} MA Historical Conn street & number 80 Boylston Street telephone _ city or town Boston .

state_MA 617-727-3470 - zip code 02116 NPS Form 10-000e (8-86) OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number. Page - . Fox Hill School, Danvers, Massachusetts on the northern pen insula, midway between the Porter and Crane Rivers. In built. Just across from the meetinghouse, Danversport's first school was The land for the school was purchased by seventeen prominent citizens the local baker, Charles Hall. Twenty years later, in 1803, the two-story "Brick House, " Danversport's second school, was erected on Water Street, also on the northern peninsula, about 1/2 mile from the site of the nominated property. As Danversport continued to grow, the brick house became inadequate.

A second building was constructed as an annex behind the first in 1849; some time later, the original building was demolished and a new, larger wing added. By the close of the 19th century, both had been removed. By 1794, Danvers had four school districts, including District #2, Danversport; in 1820, that in "the Port" numbered the second largest student population, surpassed only by Danvers Center. century was both a thriving port and a growing industrial area. there were 157 ship arrivals, with six active wharves on the local rivers, and warehouses ranging along the shore, built to store goods. At least two brickyards were located in Danversport as well. The most extensive manufactory was the Salem Iron Factory, established on Danversport's southern pen insula (between the Crane and Waters Rivers) by Nathan Reed in 1796.

Reed, who owned most of the Endicott Farm by the early Federal period, was a leader in patenting nail cutting and nail heading machines. By the Civil War, mar itime-related development in Danversport slowed considerably. In its stead, factories grew up along the rivers to replace the wharves, and workers' housing joined the homes of merchants and sea captains in Danversport. The growth of industry drew immigrant workers: Irish families had arrived by 1844, followed in the late-19th and early-20th centuries by workers from Poland, France, Greece, and Italy.

In the mid-19th century, Danversport was described as having "55 houses, 2 grist mills, one foundry, one nail factory, one rolling mill--a millinery establishment, 4 shoe manufactories, a wool shop, morocco factory--tailor shop, post office, steam mill, tin and paint shops, blacksmith shop--two tan yards, three school houses, two meeting houses, a coffee mill, a railroad station and between three and four hundred inhabitants." The three schoolhouses were the aforementioned Brick House, its annex, and a predecessor of the nominated property, the first Fox Hill School, formerly an office for the Salem Iron Factory. This building was purchased by the town ca. 1825-1830 and moved "to the riverbank north of Mr.

Bates' house." Its site is believed to have been that of the present nominated school on the corner of Waters and Endicott Streets overlooking the Crane River, just north of the Salem Iron Factory site; by 1850, the first Fox Hill School had been moved aga in, this time west down to Endicott Street, where, much altered, it served as a dwell ing until its demolition in the 1950s. continued OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900e (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - Page - - Fox Hill School, Danvers, Massachusetts By the 1830s, the bulk of Reed's property had been sold to Benjamin Porter of marbheEnd, cttParantdithe19805 While the Porter family retained much the 1950s, a small strip of the property (three acres), used as a gravel pit and located "along the road to E.

Needham," now Endicott Street, was at some time in the mid-19th century severed and sold to a succession of In 1875, the town of Danvers purchased the three-acre parcel from ohn Bates, foreman of the Salem Iron Factory. And in 1879, a town meeting approved the warrant "To build a school house on the Town lot (the gravel pits) on the corner of Water and Endicott Streets." The plans for the new schoolhouse were approved by the Danversport School Committee, which selected a traditional Greek Revival-style building. With its single story, gable front, paired entries, and simple detailing consisting of cornice and returns, entablature, and shallow-raking lintels, the school followed the schoolhouse form and style popular throughout New England in the middle decades of the 19th century. It is believed to have been the last school in Danvers constructed in this conservative style.

(While the Putnamville School, a smaller one-room Greek Revival-style schoolhouse erected in the northern section of Danvers in 1852, also survives, other district schools of the perlod, none of which are extant, were of two to four rooms; these include the Maple Street School (1856) and the Park Street School exact da te of construction unknown). Subsequent schools in the late-19th century are far more elaborate masonry blocks with Colonial Revival styling. The Fox Hill School's builder was George W. Russell, a local resident, whose lowest of five bids received. Russell was paid an additional $50 to build a 1 ove t ot Pryonstruct ion deneh inie o id bue i a cellar beneath the schoolhouse. The small school, only a single room (and smaller than the Brick School House 1/2 mile away), served students from the immediate "Orchard Farm" area: Water and Endicott Streets, Clinton Avenue, three.

Until the end of the 19th century, whenever the student body exceeded that number, and after graduation, students went to the Brick School House. In 1893, the eight-room Danversport School opened to serve upper and 1ower grades, but the Fox Hill School continued to be used. Fox Hill School remained in continuous service for early primary grades from 18/9 to 1964; from 1964-1974, it was used only as a kindergarten. Today, the Fox Hill School remains central to the Danversport community; little altered, it is a daycare center and is available for local functions in the evening.

prbertiierale Freeman Kackliffe 1.900 38 chiidran 1940-21 Children PDIL 81002554 IASO Form - 17 'R" June 1984 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Bifefentive Review Fox Hill School Essex County MASSACHUSETTS -resubmission -nomination by person or local government - owner objection - appeal Substantive Review: Lsample -request Lappeal DEC 2 9 1987 Working No. Fed. Reg. Date: 2-7-89 Date Due: 128188 =2/12/88 Action: LACCEPT... 2-70-88 -RETURN _REJECT Federal Agency: * NR decision Reviewer's comments: Bare surewving one-room schoolhorse If the late zrinetegta cenkny Recom /Citeria, AcceptA4C vtains high degree of entegnts Discipline Anchufectenal StStor 2|10/83 longstending ass Nomination returned for: _technical corrections cited below 1. Name 2. Location 3.

Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition Status Accessible Present Use 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? 7. Description J yes -no Condition -excellent -good -fair - deteriorated -ruins unexposed Check one -unaltered J altered Check one -original site - moved date Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance -summary paragraph - completeness - clarity -alterations/integrity -] dates - boundary selection 8.

Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Builder/Architect L summary paragraph - completeness Lclarity - applicable criteria justification of areas checked - relating significance to the resource - context _ relationship of integrity to significance -justification of exception -other 3 719 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: _national _state State Historic Preservation Officer signature _local title 13.

Other date -Maps - Photographs -Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to - Signed- _ Date Phone: GPO 918-450 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet FOX HILL SCHOO Fox Hill School O water street, Danvers anversport July, 1985 Photographer: J. R. Dumke Negative at 79 Water St. Danvers Photo No. 1 of 2 View Looking west at east (front) FOX HILL rox H1IL senoo- 81 Water Street, Danvers, M/ Danversport July, 1985 Photographer: - R- Dumke Negative at 79 Water st., Danvers Photo No. 2 of 2 View looking west on Endicott St showing adjacent residences C. DowIs Itimbäll LINTON Ghussell COURT Mrs. S.N. Bancroft J.Twisilen. Vaus.sell I. Tek bitt's Est. rauell CW.TNibl. E.R.R E G.EH Johnson Twisilen Erst G.Dena1 T. Cheever Est. J.W. Heud -Pratt Hines Mis.CIL C Whither Eharkdiun cleer 1884 FFICE 2 Batihelder&co. J.Batchelder conL SHEAS crirett.

ana manus GRIST MILL Suragdon ARFE Foodman Bro andRoss. BOX MANUFACTORY Brachen (H.Warren Est.= Eiprmau ZNs.W.Plucke * N. Uatces -27 Mrs. Ms Warron areritl Est. Satty Cheever ndicott FirsT Schos Est.W J.Bragdon Hünt Estl Midran D.Woodman ETRos. Rober! A- Eevert msDostel Egney HOSE HOE RossEsf 1, < E Gallirun < Gollivart Chanlst Lraon PuS, - Pulan Moster Foaerts I Story EaSullivan KENT J.Sallivan H.Bates J.Ient EGallivan Eliacte Earst: sidmore W.Sidmore CDOVe gCPa TIVE LBBFN BIT The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary of State Michael Joseph Connolly, Secretary Massachusetts Historical Commission Valerie A. Talmage Executive Director State Historic Preservation Officer December 18,1987 Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service P.O. Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 Dear Ms.

Shull: Enclosed you will find the nomination forms for the following properties: Danvers, Fox Hill School, 81 Water Street, FPCA #10212 MA Douglas, E.N. Jenckes Store, Main Street Malden, Odd Fellows Building, 442 Main Street Winchendon, Murdock School, Murdock Avenue They have been voted eligible by the State Review Board and have been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. Owners were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30-75 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. No comments have been received to date. Sincerely, Bitay Freiderg Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission BF/ es Enclosure 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 727-8470 DEC 29 901