Once upon a time in Billerica -
yes, our Billerica - there
was a Military school - possibly
formed in the late 1800s.
According to a Billerica native, this school was located on
Mitchell Pond on the other side from where the Boys and
Girls Club and the Lampson Fields are now.
I think there must have
been three versions of this
school in Billerica. The first one, I think, was on the
corner of Boston Rd and Andover Rd. One book I have
states that it was moved from that point on to Andover
Rd and Main St. I can't find a Main St. on any of
the Billerica maps I have (but someone in the know
has determined that our current Boston Rd was once
called Main St.)
and I believe that is where the second
Mitchell School was located. This location had at one time
been for a hotel that got burned down and then was replaced
with another building. The Mitchell School moved into
that building. It could only house about 24
pupils.
I believe they must've moved
the school a third time to
the area around Mitchell Pond. I have been told
that this school was closed down due to the Great
Depression sometime in the mid 1930s.
The school housed
about 40 pupils and is the building in the pictures above.
One interesting fact related to
me by a Billerica native,
before Chelmsford came along, the Mitchell Military
School was Howe School's (Billerica High) biggest rival,
especially in football. The last game was played in 1932
where Howe won 20-0. Howe suspended football for two years
before bringing it back in 1935. By then, the Mitchell School
had
closed and now Chelmsford was Howe's biggest rival.
All the pupils at Mitchell were boys
and it was a military boarding
school founded by a Moses C. Mitchell, a graduate of Waterville
College (now Colby University according to one of my sources).
He had brought this school from Edgartown, MA to Billerica
possibly before 1876.
NEW: More photos from someone's
grandson who actually went
to the Mitchell Military School. The student was a George
Henry Webb from the class of 1908. These pix were submitted
to us by his grandson, Daniel J. Webb. It's always nice to
receive such a gift of photos such as these! You can see them
here:
Mitchell Military (last group of pix).
-Binny
Sources:
1. Mitchell's Boys' School handbook, 1901
2. History of Billerica by Rev. Henry A. Hazen, A. M., 1883
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