The Town of Chelsea, inclusive of Revere and Winthrop,
entered the nineteenth century with a population of five hundred
persons. In 1900, the City of Chelsea, minus Revere and Winthrop,
entered the twentieth century with a population of 34,094 persons.
The number of children of school age had increased with each school
year. Schools increased in size, from one room wooden buildings to
three and four story brick, with ten to fourteen rooms. With the
unforeseen population growth was the perennial need for additional
school accommodations.
In 1901, the city obtained a Public Improvement Loan of
$178,000. The city then bought the James Tent and Mary Haskell
estates on Crescent Avenue and Tudor Street for the sum of $31,000
for a new location of the high school building. A lot of land on
Everett Avenue, was purchased for the purpose of building a grammar
school. A new three story brick building with full height basement,
was constructed on Crescent Avenue and ready for occupancy in 1904;
this became the new Chelsea Senior High School. In 1926, a large
addition was made to the High School by Mayor Lawrence Quigley. The
new addition extended from Clark Avenue to Tudor Street; obtaining
three floors of new school rooms plus a gymnasium and an auditorium.
A new two story brick grammar school building was built in 1904, on
Fourth Street and Everett Avenue. This school was appropriately named
the Frank B. Fay School in honor of Chelsea’s war time Mayor during
the Civil War.
September 16, 1904 the Williams School suffered a serious
fire, creating a loss of $11,185. The first alarm was received at
11:45 P.M., the cause was undetermined. The fire had put a temporary
crimp in school plans until repairs were made.
Work began in 1906,to remodel the Spencer Avenue School.
The City of Chelsea, in 1881, purchased a lot of 20,000 feet of land
on the corner of Spencer Avenue and Stockton Street. A two story
wooden school building was contracted to be built on the site, but
because of the limited amount of funds appropriated only the first
floor and basement could be finished; it was a few years before the
second floor was completed. The school in 1906, was completely
remodeled to a three story brick building with ten classrooms. The
name was changed to the Mary C. Burke School in 1937 in memory of a
U. S. Army nurse, from Chelsea, who died in France of influenza
during World War 1.
In the tragic fire of April 12, 1908, nearly half of the
city was destroyed including the city hall, library, and almost all
public and semi public buildings. Chelsea lost eight of it’s fourteen
school buildings. The schools completely destroyed were: the Frank B.
Fay, the Highland, the Bellingham, the Williams, the Shurtleff, the
Central Avenue, the Shawmut, and the Broadway. The schools saved
were: the Cary, the Bloomingdale, the Carter, the Prattville, the
Spencer Avenue, and the Senior High School. The city began to rebuild
immediately. A new, much larger, Williams School was completed by
September of 1909. The Williams School, a three story brick, was
built on the block bounded by Walnut, Fourth, Arlington, and Fifth
Streets. In 1912, a two story brick building was added on the
northerly end, and in 1915, a two story building was built on the
southerly end. The school accommodated grades 1-9, and held over
2,000 students.
The Shurtleff School was rebuilt on the block bounded by
Congress Avenue, Hawthorn Street, Central Avenue and Shurtleff
Street. The main building, of three story brick, was completed in
1909. The Shurtleff School also had added buildings extending the
school from Congress Avenue to Central Avenue.
The old Carter School and the old fire station, on Forsyth
Street, were torn down and a new much larger three story brick school
building was constructed in 1917. The school accommodated students
from grades 1-9. The Carter School was completely destroyed by fire
in 1971.
The other six schools destroyed in the fire of 1908, were
never rebuilt. The students from these schools were absorbed into the
new larger schools. The Bloomingdale School was torn down in 1919.
The Cary School was torn down in 1942. Neither school was rebuilt.