The Brick School

            In the early years, Millinocket’s youngest school children attended Millinocket High School and Common School (1901-1921). Then Oxford Street School was constructed in 1907.

            As the school age population kept steadily increasing, by 1913-14, a new elementary building was needed. The Brick Schoolhouse opened in the fall of 1916 with four classrooms and a teacher’s room. Work continued on four more classrooms and the basement space was converted for use. Later, the Brick Schoolhouse became known as Aroostook Avenue School.

The town report, Feb. 1914 - Feb. 1915, shows the town had paid out $18,533 for this new building. Another entry states “the new school house will cost approximately $40,000 which leaves $10,000 to be raised by direct taxation.” Another $2000 would be raised yearly “to extinguish the debt.” A later entry by the superintendent of schools says “due to delays on the part of the architect and company furnishing the cement trimmings, it is doubtful we will use the new building until fall. When finished, this school will be one of the best north of Bangor.” The report issued in Feb. 1916 tells of payment for the Brick School fence of $414.75. This included the wire fencing, posts and the building of a concrete wall. In addition, it is noted that the sum of $1.75 was paid to R. E. Elliott for hauling the fencing and other materials from the railroad station.

The superintendent’s report (1915-1916) sums up the student population situation at the time. “The number of school children in Millinocket is increasing so rapidly that it is becoming quite a problem to know what to do with them. We thought the new school building which was built to accommodate 400 children would solve the question for several years, but already there are over 400 in the new building and no teacher has less than 40 students.” (This was when talk started about building another new school, however, WWI happened and it would be 1931 before Katahdin Avenue School would become a reality.)

In 1917, Millinocket’s population was 4000+ with 1297 between age 5 and age 21 (only those ages 7 and 15 were required by state law to attend public school. An absence of ½ day would be deemed a violation. The town report shows that of the number actually attending was 1121, the number of teachers was 26 and the number of weeks in the school year was 36. There was a spring, fall and winter semester.

At the Brick School, by then being called Aroostook Avenue School, there was one teacher per grade level as it was at Oxford Street School and for the elementary grades still housed at the Millinocket High School and Common School. For the school year 1916-17, each classroom had between 40 and 50+ students enrolled, but not all attended each day. At the high school level, some classes had 60+ enrolled. Truancy was common all through the early years. The superintendent’s report for 1904-05 states, “truancy is like driving pigs to school.”

The museum has a series school census books dating from 1916 to 1938. They include the names and ages of all local children between the ages of 5 and 21 eligible to attend school in town. The books were donated some years ago by Robert Pelletier and he stated they were in the attic at Aroostook Avenue School.

Grade 6, 1947-48 Aroostook Avenue School