17.) Black River Academy, 14 High Street
Fifty-two years after the first settlers came to Ludlow, Black River Academy was
founded. Built in 1888, by Clinton
Smith
of Middlebury, VT, this is one of Ludlow’s outstanding architectural landmarks.
It is a “Richardsonian style” school building, one of the few remaining such
structures in the state. This building was the third building to house the
Academy. The first building, built in 1835 burned in 1844. They then moved into
the old Union Church, this building was taken down in order to build the present
building.
The school played an important role in the education of President Calvin Coolidge. The President graduated from the Academy in 1890. Other notable graduates included: Paul Harris, founder of Rotary Int’l, John Garibaldi Sargent, United States Attorney General, Abby Maria Hemenway, publisher of the Vermont Gazetteer and Ida Fuller, the first person to receive a Social Security check, and a Vermont Governor, William Stickney.
The Academy functioned as a school until 1938, when a new high school was built. The Academy has been the home of the Black River Academy Museum and Historical Society since 1972.
The historical significance of the site is enhanced by its proximity to the State Historical Calvin Coolidge Homestead site. More information on the museum is available at the museum’s web site: www.bramvt.org.
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