by Jeanette Fleck
WSU Intern
Looking Back: The State Normal School at Westfield
Westfield State University is nearing the end of its 175th anniversary. As the origins of Westfield State have been referenced several times in this column thus far, it seems proper to round out the story, even if it means profiling a building that no longer stands.
Around 1838, the now-famous Horace Mann, at the time Secretary of the newly-formed Massachusetts State Board of Education, had pioneered and passed a bill that would fund a “three year experiment” of training teachers for common (elementary) schools. With those funds ($20,000 total – not adjusted for inflation), three state schools came into existence. The one at Barre, established 1839, was even more experimental than the others, as it accepted both men and women from the beginning.
The “experiment” at Barre seemed to be a success, until the death of the school’s first principal, Samuel Newman, in February 1842. The Board of Education began some intense discussion, trying both to find a new principal, and to possibly move the School to a more accessible location. William Bates was one influential member advocating for Westfield to have the School. Rev. Emerson Davis, pastor of the First Congregational Church, was the other. Davis had been a member of the Board since its formation, alongside Horace Mann, and may have been even more influential than Bates in moving the school, as he offered to serve as Principal until a permanent one could be found.
The Normal School re-opened in September 1844, in one room inside the Westfield Academy (precursor to the high school), and soon moved to a larger group of rooms inside the Town Hall. However, there were plans for a building’s construction on the corner of Washington and School Streets. It would be the School’s first official building, regardless of location, and as Westfield was much more supportive than Barre of a coeducational school, funds were readily raised to build an impressive two-story brick schoolhouse, with Classical-style Ionic columns.
Principal Davis was very active with the school while it remained in Town Hall, even going so far as to teach some of the classes. With the new building’s completion in 1846, however, as had been agreed, Davis stepped down. His permanent replacement, David S. Rowe, took his post, and Rowe’s reputation for integrity transferred to the school during his time as Principal.
As the Normal School grew to need more space, the building was renovated twice, first in 1860 to add two wings, and again in 1869 to add a third story. The building couldn’t last the century, though; its deteriorating structure prompted the construction of its replacement on Court Street in 1892 (now City Hall). In 1899, the building was torn town completely, to be replaced by the Normal Training School. This site, which still stands in the place of the original schoolhouse, is now known as Courthouse Square, and as of 2012 belongs to Westfield State once again.
