Visit
Visit a 1750 Schoolhouse
The West Street School still stands where it taught its first students — three historic structures on a third of an acre at 1432 West Street, open to visitors for announced events.
- National Register
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places December 1, 1988 — reference #88002689
- Southington's oldest
- The town's oldest surviving school building
- Years of teaching
- Taught West Street's farm families from 1750 to 1945
Listing date and reference number per the National Register of Historic Places listing.
Where
On its original site since 1750
The address
1432 West StreetSouthington, CT 06489
The West Street School has never moved. It stands today on the same ground where it taught its first students, when this part of Southington was still farm country.
When West Street was widened and lowered in 1977, the schoolhouse kept its ground — it now sits about 12 feet above the roadbed on a grassed slope, looking down on the road it has faced for centuries.
Open in Google Maps(opens in a new tab)When
Open for announced events
The schoolhouse does not keep regular hours. It opens for announced events — open houses and community gatherings hosted by the Southington Historical Society.
Check the Events page for the next date; each listing carries its own details.
See the Next Open HouseWhat you'll see
Three historic structures on a third of an acre
From West Street: the white clapboard schoolhouse with its gable end to the road, the tall flagpole, and the rough-cut brownstone foundation it has rested on since the beginning. Behind it stand its two outbuildings — the woodshed and the privy.
Inside, during events
When the doors open for an event, you step into the single 20-by-24-foot room where grades of farm children learned together — the green chalkboards in their wood frames, the pot-bellied stove that was the building's only heat, and the beaded wainscot along the walls.
The single room — chalkboard, curtained windows, antique schoolbooks The privy outbuilding, standing among the pines The schoolyard in spring, behind the building
Before you come
A note on accessibility
The West Street School is an 18th-century building on a sloped site. For accessibility questions about a specific event, contact the Southington Historical Society.
(860) 621-4811Nearby
More Southington history
The Southington Historical Society — the school's steward — keeps two more historic doors open.
Southington Historical Society
239 Main Street, in the town's former 1902 library building. Open Wednesdays 5–7 p.m.
southingtonhistory.org(opens in a new tab)Old South End Schoolhouse
The Society's other historic schoolhouse — built about 1810 on South End Road.
Plan your visit around an event
The schoolhouse opens its door when the Historical Society announces a date — and the story of the room you'll be standing in is worth reading first.
Want to help keep the schoolhouse standing? Support the restoration
More questions before you come? Read the FAQ →