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Historic Hallowell

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Hallowell Schools

Warren Street School, Hallowell, ca. 1890
Warren Street School, Hallowell, ca. 1890
Courtesy of Sumner A. Webber, Sr., an individual partner

The founders of Hallowell were the ones with an idea of a school for their children. After the founders constructed a meeting house at “the Fort,” a movement for the funding of the school was organized. On August 31, 1791, the act for the incorporation and endowment of an Academy at Hallowell Hook was signed by Governor Hancock. The act then proceeded to be passed by the General Court of Massachusetts. The building was ready to occupy in May, 1795, and the school opened with expectations of success. Mr. Woodman was the first teacher at the academy. By the end of the first year, there were about forty students attending the academy. The academy was so proud of the students’ success that a public display was put on to show the parents what their children had learned during the school year. Soon after, the children from Gardiner, Augusta, and other nearby towns came to learn at the Hallowell Academy.

High School, Hallowell, ca. 1900
High School, Hallowell, ca. 1900
Hubbard Free Library

Young factory workers (like people who worked at the local Hallowell cotton mills and shoe factories) had to attend school as well. Working in factories was a very popular occupation in the 1800’s. At one point, 306,000 people (which was about 40 percent of the working population at the time) worked in the factories. Usually, older children would work in the factories in the morning and attend secondary school for a small part of the day. Younger factory workers would attend nursery school for part of the day, instead of secondary school. It was common for children to start their first full time job at the factories around the age of seven, but some children as young as five years old were reported working for thirteen hours a day in the factories.

Click on this link for more information about child labor.

Child Labor


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Historic Hallowell
In partnership with the Maine Memory Network    |    Project of Maine Historical Society