Page of Wade General Store ledger from 1813 listing brandy sales. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Huntington Historical Society president David Norton with Wade General Store ledger, begun in 1811. (Photo by Amy Porter)
HUNTINGTON – David Norton, president of the Huntington Historical Society points to an 1813 page of the ledger from the Wade General Store listing brandy sales, during the open house Sunday at the Norwich Bridge one-room schoolhouse on 72 Worthington Road. The schoolhouse, one of the last remaining of eleven within the town, holds the society’s collection of town artifacts and serves as its museum.
Norton explained that in the 1800’s, there were one-room schoolhouses every few miles within walking distance for school children. The Norwich Bridge School was built circa 1800, and classes were held for students in grades one through eight in the building until 1919.
Original two-child desk and two chairs found in storage in the schoolhouse. (Photo by Amy Porter)
The Norwich Bridge school room is neatly arranged with donated antique desks. In the front row are an original desk for two and two chairs that were found in a closet during the schoolhouse’s restoration in the 1970’s. Norton said their footprint exactly matched the holes and circles in the floor; and they are in their original positions. The record suggests the school never held more than 16 students during any one term.
On the walls and in cases surrounding the school room are other artifacts from throughout the history of the town.
Huntington was incorporated in 1855, decades later than surrounding towns, assembled from pieces of Blandford and Chester which were grafted onto the town of Norwich. A Northampton attorney named Charles Huntington helped to write the articles for the new town’s incorporation, and then presented the town with a gift of $200 to start a library if they named the new town after him, according to Norton. Hence, Huntington was born.
An oil painting of the Norwich Covered Bridge, torn down in the 1920’s. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Two oil paintings depict the covered bridge that stood at the location of Norwich Bridge on Route 112 over the Westfield River, which can be seen outside the window of the schoolhouse. The covered bridge was taken down in the 1920’s, because it was not wide enough to accommodate cars, Norton said.
Torn down in the 1970’s was the old Huntington High School, which stood next to the Murrayfield Elementary School, taken down in the 2000’s; currently the site of the Huntington Public Library. Norton held up a Huntington High School “Hornets” jacket from 1953, three years before the last class to graduate from the school. Gateway Regional began its first official school year in 1963, with an enrollment of 240 Students.
Official 1848 Weights and Measures for the town of Norwich. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Among other interesting artifacts in the museum are official weights and measures made in 1848 for the town of Norwich. Norton said every town had its own weights and measures during that era.
The Norwich Bridge School Museum holds open houses on the last Sunday of the month from 1 to 4 p.m., from April to September or October, depending on the weather. The next open house is scheduled on August The schoolhouse is located at the opposite end of the parking lot from the Huntington Country Store, which used to be Moore’s Dairy Farm, Norton said, pointing to two old milk bottles from the farm.
The Norwich Bridge School Museum hosts open houses the last Sunday of the month, 1 to 4 p.m. during warm weather. (Photo by Amy Porter)
More information about the history of the town and the museum may be found on the Huntington Historical Society’s website at huntingtonma.us/historical-society.
