St Johns High School - Yearbook (Shrewsbury, MA)

Page 9 text:

! X 9 Q, xnxx Q 45. I .e 'xxx A i..,kxv-sl. YW' l fl Clockwise fBeginning leftzj St. Iohn's manor, November, 1979 Mr. Gillis explains slide show during Freshman retreat in manor the Model U.N. at work fl-rj: Iohn Foley, Ioseph Virbasius, Ronald Furmaniuk the master bedroom Manor, Christmas, 1979 Master bedroom, 1938 Master bedroom fconvertedi 1979 5

Page 8 text:

Originally, the land upon which St. Iohn's is built was part of a large private estate: bordered to the east by Gage Lane, to the west by Old Mill Road, to the north by West Main, and to the south by Maple. Philip Washburn Moen was owner. Mr. Moen was retired president of Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company flater to be the Steel 81 Wire Division of U.S. Steelj. In 1905 Mr. Moen commissioned the construction of a 30-room mansion. Until it was razed in the mid-1970's, the house was known to area residents as the Brewer Mansion. In 1912, Mr. Charles H. Hutchins purchased the house and property. Mr. Hutchins tof Knolls Loomworks, St. Iohn's Manor Worcesterl had three children. He commissioned architects to build a private residence for each. The Worcester firm of L.W. Briggs built our present day manor house for Mr. Hutchins' bachelor son Arthur in 1914. After Arthur moved to California, the house and lands given to him were purchased by Doctor Cleveland. In 1941, the Doctor's widow, Gertrude, sold the property to Mr. Clifford B. Sweet, vice-president of Brewer 8: Company, a pharmaceutical firm. Mr. Sweet named his estate Dunmorlan. He and his family resided here for 14 years. During the Worcester tornado in 1953, the house sustained minor damage: tiling on the roof was torn off and the stone chimney above the front bedroom was knocked to the ground. In 1955, the Xaverian Brothers purchased Dunmorlan while a suitable location for an expanded St. Iohn's was found. fOriginal plans did not call for the construction of a school building on the Shrewsbury propertyj In 1959, the ground was broken for the high school building. Later, Pioneer Field was acquired at the bottom of Main Street Hill. These 44 acres fonce part of the Moen, then Hutchins, then Brewer Estatel had originally served as a hay field, and then had been leased as a golf driving range. fResearch by Brother Thomas Ryan, C.F.X.j ,QQ

Page 10 text:

Unique and somewhat recent, Flavian Hall is an integral part of the St. Iohn's tradition. Built in the late 1960's, the building is named in honor of Brother Flavian fFeb. 22, 1886 to Au- gust 4, 19741 who was a read- ing tutor and typing teacher at St. Iohn's from 1962 until his death. Brother Flavian was quite the personality. He was known for breaking up rocks and depos- iting them in the woods in his task of never tiring groundskeeper, even at the age of seventy. At his death, Brother Flavian was the senior Xaverian Brother in America, and, so, St. Iohn's has honored him by creating Flavian Hall. Flavian Hall has provided ex- tra room for classes, but it has become more than just extra Flavian Hall space. It has grown into a building with a personality all its own. The classrooms of Flavian are vertical rather than horizontal. In addition to classes, the Drama club makes use of Flavian's Little Theatre, which is also used for the showing of movies. Flavian has special significance to St. Iohn's. Uonathan Phelps '81j . s 5 M .Y i 2 if YT , i sa- g A .E 553' 3 ' 4 i if 55' . F '-'. -W 1 E: - .5 1 -W Y 15 1, - - H im...-f ? P if P E , -fl , i il Y if 3 5 gal Y ls , 6' fB -'ef-Q is ss.. WkW'w , YY , T ' - , me