COMMUNITY HALL, WEST PELHAM

Compiled for: PELHAM CONCERNED CITIZENS

By -- Robert Lord Keyes

     By the time of the Civil War, Pelham had five separate school districts, each with their own little one room school house. The Valley School, built in 1833, was located on North Valley Road at the corner of Robinson Road. At one time it had over ninety "scholars" a term.

    With the establishment of Bartlett’s Montague City Fish Rod Factory in 1889, the center of population of the western part of the town shifted to the area in the vicinity of the Factory. This area became known as "Pelham City," "city" being a term used for factory villages. [While we know this area as West Pelham today, one hundred years ago, "West Pelham" --strictly speaking--was that part of town near the present United Church.]

    With population leaving the upper North Valley Road area, in 1887 Valley School found itself with no children who lived in its immediate neighborhood. It was time to change the school site. School buildings were sometimes moved from one location to another in the nineteenth century. And for two years Pelham debated just what to do with Valley School. One or two special town meetings were called. It was suggested that the school be moved to the area opposite the present Hawley Reservoir. But no consensus appeared.

    Finally, in 1892, Benjamin Page, Sr. [1829-1913] broke the log jam and gave the town a small piece of land on the corner of Amherst Road and North Valley Road to be used "for school purposes." It was on this piece of property, or very near by, where Riley Jillson [1782-1863] had a carpentry shop where, in 1851, he was turning out hand-made coffins.

    Pelham carpenter William Manda Thurber [1825-1904] was given the job of constructing a new school building to replace Valley School. He finished in 1893 and as paid $565 by the town for his troubles. The building was known as City School--which, for reasons as you will see, I call "City School I."

   City School I opened for its first students in the spring of 1893. Miss Alice Fairbanks was the first teacher in this one room building. She finished out the remaining 20 weeks of the school term. City School I continued to be used as a school for the next twenty years.

   In the meantime, West Pelham grew, more people moved into this part of town, new houses were built, and the factory expanded. On Pelham hill, in the Hollow and in Packardville, population declined. In 1902 the trolley line was extended to Pelham, due much to the efforts of factory owner Eugene P. Bartlett. Until 1930 the trolley ran right past City School I.

    In 1913 the town decided that it again needed a new school and in December of that year, a two-room school building was built on the hill opposite City School I. the new building then became known as "City School” (which I will call "City School II"]. Suddenly, there was no longer a use for the old City School building.

[City School II lasted for five years when it was burned as a result of an accident in December, 1918. City School III--built with the same plans which erected School II--was hastily put up for the next school year.]

   City residents kicked around the notion that the village needed its own "community hall." A 1914 Town Warrant asked all of the town's residents what would be done with the building. Eugene Bartlett and others urged that a community association be formed which would own and utilize building for various civic purposes. On Nov. 5, 1914, the Village Hall Association was organized by Bartlett, Charles H. Jones, Herman F. Page and Fred A. Shepard. The organization's papers stated that any resident of the Town of Pelham could become member of the Association by attending a meeting. There were no dues. The February 1915 Town Meeting gave the association a 99 year lease to the building.

   Association officers were apparently elected every year and numerous civic functions began taking place in the former school house. Besides recreational activities, there were weddings, bridal showers, anniversaries, family reunions, religious services, ward meetings, parties, and meetings of some of the town departments. In 1915 the building was known as "Village Hall." It later became known by the name by which we know it today - Community Hall.

   Pelham students going high school in Amherst would gather mornings at Community all and take the trolley in. Individuals and couples looking for Saturday night adventure in town also waited at that spot. The automobile finally overtook the trolley, which ended in 1930. Amherst road was paved and Community Hall found itself on a busy traffic intersection.

   In 1921 the Town of Pelham sold the building to the Trustees of the Village Hall Association. The 1938, 1940 and 1965 Annual Reports all state that the building was still in the hands of this association. The 1923 Pelham school graduations were held in Community Hall. 105 Pelham pupils, including 16 state wards, were graduated. In 1927 the Pelham branch of the P.T.A. was founded at Community Hall and for many years held their meetings there.

   With the shift in the town's population came a shift in the location of some of the town's branches. In 1917, no one could be found to take the Chairmanship of the Board of Selectmen. Its meetings and the town's records having always been located in the Town Hall on Pelham Hill. Fred A Shepard of West Pelham finally agreed to take the post--if the town's records were transferred to Community Hall. The town agreed. $500 was found for a new safe and the town's records for many years were then kept in Community Hall.

   Daniel Allen, a long-time neighbor of Community Hall, recalls a history of the building and its many uses in an oral history tape recorded in the 1980's. [This tape is available at the Pelham library.]

   Later civic functions include meetings of the Pelham Hunting Club and Boy Scouts. Tag sales were held in the building for many years. The Pelham Historical Society has met there as well as other groups, either short lived or ad hoc.

   For over a hundred years, Community Hall has been the "town hall" of Pelham City and, later [as the term enlarged to encompass all of the western part of town] West Pelham. It was the "nearby" town hall, of civic and community functions and events, as the original Town Hall on the hall became more distant and out-of-the-way to West Pelhamites. Community Hall never did and could never replace Pelham's venerable building on the hill as symbol of the entire town. But Community Hall was one community's "own" building, a neighborhood institution, serving the community [and the town] longer than anyone now living can remember.

No photo or date information is presently available on these four photos. The three flags on the building could indicate perhaps around the end of World War I. Could the nineteen stars on the banner in photo II be an indication of military men from Pelham? The other banner with three stripes, may have significance, but at this point we have been unable to identify it. All of the ladies are dressed in the same style white dress. We do not have Identification of ladies in hand, but it has been stated, that at one time or another, all of the ladies pictured had been employed by Mr. Bartlett's Montague City Fish Rod Factory in Pelham.

This picture was taken: APRIL 14, 1897 In front of "City School" now known as: COMMUNITY HALL There are five children of John and Mary A. Page of North Valley Road Pelham. George born in 1886, Leonora 1881, Olive 1888, Iva 1890 Herman 1891. L to R 1st row 2nd from left Lenora, 5th is Olive in same style dress. George is behind Olive;

A NEW BEGINNING - COMMUNITY HALL

In the year 2002, Pelham's only remaining one room schoolhouse, the Town's Community Hall, stood vacant. After years of neglect, the building was beginning to exhibit extreme signs of deterioration. It was then that a grassroots group of individuals rallied to save the historic Pelham landmark.

At the request of the Board of Selectmen, a public gathering was held at Community Hall. With standing room only, Town residents rallied their support for the restoration of the building. Forthright, the Town appointed a five member Committee to act on this concern. Their mission would be to raise private monies, restore and re-establish the building.

The interior/exterior renovation of the building has been continuous since 2002. The project has received the un-wavering support of the Pelham Historical Society and the Pelham Historical Commission as well.

Two very successful Capital Campaigns were undertaken ..... one in 2003 and another in 2007. The significance of Community Hall was manifested by the generosity materialized in both Campaigns. To this date, the Town of Pelham has not been a part of the funding for the project. All building materials used for the renovation of the building have been entirely funded with private contributions. Subsequently, these materials were used for rehabilitating the building with the volunteer labor of many local craftsmen ..... carpenters, electricians, plumbers, painters, masons and roofers.

Significant issues addressed are as follows .... building insulation, replacement of various sills, exterior walls, siding, windows, floors and interior doors. Appropriate cabinetry, three bay stainless steel sink, refrigerator, stove with exhaust hood, countertop, electrical fixtures and flooring are all necessary components of a fully working kitchen. Both the interior and exterior of the building have been painted. All of the original trim and wainscoting in the large meeting room has been meticulously refinished.

Perhaps never before in the Town's history has "COMMUNITY SPIRIT" been evidenced as forcefully and eloquently as it has with the restoration of this humble piece of Pelham's history.

Pelham Library / Community Complex (pelham_library)

http://pelham-library.org

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