Thank you to the Scarborough Garden Club, for the beautiful holiday wreaths to decorate the museum’s doors this year. Also, thank you to Joyce Alden for the boughs, berries, and ribbons used to decorate the window boxes.
Garden Club members Elaine Mallory, Marie Leyro, and Karen Thompson.
Photo by Karlene Osborne.
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Photos by Joyce Alden
Scarborough Historical Society members visiting the old Beech Ridge school.
Photo Courtesy Karlene Osborne.
Before there were big yellow school busses, school children in Scarborough for the most part walked to school. To keep the distances from their homes doable, back in the 1800s Scarborough had over a dozen one-room district schools spread throughout the town. A single teacher taught the elementary grades to each neighborhood’s school children.
All the district schools were torn down or repurposed over time – with one exception. Although vacant for decades and falling into disrepair, District No. 7’s Beech Ridge School, located at 184 Holmes Road, managed to survive over the years. In 2018 the Scarborough Historical Society stepped forward to save this important part of the town’s history. The society was deeded ownership so it could proceed to raise funds and oversee the restoration of the building.
Thanks to donations and grants for the project, much work has been accomplished. Phase I started with lifting the building so a new foundation could be poured. Later the rotted sills were replaced while adding a brick veneer to provide the appearance of the original foundation. After the interior was gutted, a basement stairwell and bulkhead were added. Phase II of the restoration work will include, among other things, putting in insulation, electricity, and plumbing. The roof will be shingled and new windows and doors installed. Lastly, historically accurate vertically-sawn exterior clapboards will be applied to the exterior of the building.
The Beech Ridge School’s scholars posed in 1915 with their teacher, Mabel Storey.
It appears that shoes were in short supply for children at that time.
Photo Courtesy Scarborough Historical Society Collections
Once the restoration work is completed, the building will be available to the community for multi-functional uses. As an educational component, period school artifacts and displays will help visitors learn what school was like in a one-room school in an earlier time.
 John Hearn was a teacher at the Beech Ridge school in the 19th century. |
 Martha Pillsbury was the Beech Ridge school’s teacher in 1866. Scarboro; Aug/ 31st 1866… Town of Scarboro: Received Paym’t Martha A Pillsbury |
The Scarborough Historical Society is appreciative of the funding it has received for the project from the Town of Scarborough and the Prouts Neck Historical Society, in addition to donations made by many other supporters.
We are well on our way to saving this precious remnant of our past, but there is still a lot of work to be done. We hope for additional donations toward the $150,000 currently needed to finish the job. Checks may be sent to the Scarborough Historical Society, P.O. Box 156, Scarborough, ME 04074, or donations made to www.gofundme.com/SHS-Restore-Beech-Ridge-School. The Scarborough Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, making all much-needed donations fully tax-deductible.
 Interior Beech Ridge School |
 Beech Ridge School ready to be lowered onto new foundation (Apr 2020) |
This article was first published in the Scarborough Leader and is republished here with the permission of the author.
We are asking you to use CLYNK for your returnable bottles and cans. Fill up a CLYNK bag (don’t crush cans or remove bottle labels). The recyclable bags can be purchased for a minimal cost in boxes of 10 at any Hannaford Supermarket. Or drop by the museum any Tuesday morning and get free ones.
We have CLYNK bag TAGS, which adhere to the bag, at the museum, 647 US Route One. Stop at the museum to get tags, call us at 207-885-9997, or use the contact form below, so we can get them to you. Then just take your filled bag to any Hannaford CLYNK station, scan the bag’s tag and open the door. Or leave your filled bag at the museum, and we will take care of it.
Thank you for your support during these COVID times when fundraising has been challenging.
Rodney Laughton at the Laughton History Table.
The doors of the Scarborough Historical Society and Museum have been closed during a long pandemic, but with so many people now vaccinated, beginning Saturday, November 13 visitors who are safely masked are once again welcome at the museum.
As part of celebrating the reopening, a new Laughton History Table is now available at the museum, giving visitors the opportunity to view over 5,000 indexed images from Rodney Laughton’s extensive collection.
Rodney has been collecting all things Scarborough for a number of decades. In addition to a large number of pictures, the collection includes scanned images of paper records, newspaper articles, postcards, letters, and brochures.
A volunteer is using the index to find pictures of family members from long ago.
Using a desktop computer, visitors will be able to scroll through the many images that focus on Scarborough’s history. For anyone hoping to find pictures and/or information pertaining to a specific person, place, or event, a second computer contains an index that allows anyone to quickly find what they’re looking for.
In addition to the Laughton History Table, there are many other exhibits and historical items to see. The Scarborough Historical Society & Museum is open to the public on Tuesday mornings and the second Saturday of the month from 9 am -12 noon. There is no charge for admission, but donations are welcomed. We hope to see you soon!
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n the last update regarding Scarborough Historical Society’s restoration of the Beech Ridge School, I reported that $25,600 was needed to start the next phase of work. Since then, an anonymous donor has come forward with a donation that will allow us to begin. Also, a second donor, a Scar- borough resident wishing to remain anonymous, has set up a matching grant of $1,000 whereby other donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to the $1,000. Any donations toward that amount will be gratefully received. To date, we have raised $130,000 toward our budgeted goal of $280,000. This includes a new pledge which will be discussed in our next newsletter.
Our local contractor, Alden Joinery and Restoration, will resume work shortly to install replacement windows and doors, reframe and repair the building interior and install traditional, historically accurate vertically-sawn clapboards.
Please consider a donation by sending a check to Scarborough Historical Society, PO Box 156, Scarborough, ME 04070-0156. The society‘s GoFundMe page is https:// www.gofundme.com/SHS-Restore-Beech-Ridge-School. Your gift is tax-deductible, as Scarborough Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Please contact us if you have any questions or suggestions. Thank you for being a part of saving Scarborough history.
School Interior
Windows ready to be installed
Photos and graphic: Karlene Osborne
