Fairhaven High School - Huttlestonian Yearbook (Fairhaven, MA)

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Fairhaven High School at its inception was one of the most elab¬ orate and expensive schools ever to arise from a blueprint into a reality. Constructed at a cost estimated to be between five-hundred thousand and seven-hundred fifty thousand dollars, and endowed to the town of Fairhaven by its great benefactor, Henry H. Rogers, the facilities of this institution of learning compared favorably with those of any other secondary school in the United States. The earth was first broken for the building in April, 1905. Working constantly, tthe builders succeeded in completing the monumental structure in about eighteen months. On completion, the school pos¬ sessed its own electric light plant capable of supplying electricity for fourteen-hundred and forty lights, and a storage battery besides its own gas plant. The building was equipped with a complete ven¬ tilating plant, in addition to its own steam engine. It possessed the finest experimental apparatus for laboratory science to be found among the secondary schools of the country. The basement floor was one of the most remarkable in the nation. The floor consisted of manual training rooms, cooking rooms, baths and lockers for the pupils, and a beautifully designed refectory. The refectory was floored in rubber tiling of a gray and white pattern, and was finished in quartered oak, stained green. With its Guastovino vaults for ceilings, and its heavy arched wall which divided the room into two sections, one for boys and the other for girls, the refectory was, indeed, a model of tasteful architecture. The High School had other outstanding features which served to distinguish it. The building itself was Elizabethan in style. It was three stories or one-hundred feet in height. Granite taken from the Fort Phoenix ledge was used for the basement and first story walls, and Indiana limestone was employed for the bolts, sills, lintels, and portals of the two entrances. The second story was formed of Dar-

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In appreciation of her diligent and tireless efforts as class ad¬ viser, the senior class gratefully dedicates this issue of The Hut- tlestonian to Miss Edith Rogers.

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lington bricks with limestone trimmings; the third story was laid with limestone dormers and brick gables. A clock tower equipped with an illuminated clock with four dials rose above the building. The grounds, with their natural beauty, enhanced the dignity ' of the school. Verdant grass, interlaced with walks and fringed with trees added to the distinctive quality of the building. The school itself was set back one-hundred feet from the street. On the east of the school was erected a sports stadium, whose low walls were of the same material as those of the high school. At the north side of the stadium was a massive concrete bleacher. The school had other original qualities; an excellent gymnasium, a superbly styled audi¬ torium famed for the excellence of its accoustics, and attractive murals adorning the entrances to the building. In 1933, because of an increase in school enrollment, the Town undertook to build a wing to the High School. This addition was con¬ structed of the same material as the original building, though on a more modern architectural design. The Fairhaven High School, then called the New High School, was informally opened by Henry H. Rogers on April 11, 1906. Students held a few classes in completed rooms, and then filed back to the old school, because the New High School was still very much in the process of construction. The Fairhaven High School was formally endowed to the town on December 30, 1906; a copy of the original document now hangs in the west corridor of the High School. The students of Fairhaven High School have always been con¬ scious of the splendid heritage that is theirs. Since the opening of the matchless building in 1906, the school has been distinguished by its community spirit, its prowess on the athletic fields, and, above all, its high academic standards — standards so consistently good that the school has always maintained its A rating among the state ' s secondary schools. Surely, both present-day students, and thousands of alumni look on Fairhaven High School as a beautiful and dignified alma mater. Thomas Brennan ' 47.