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Mayor Hermon W. Pratt, in his inaugural address, recommended
the building of a twelve-room schoolhouse on a lot of land which had
been bonded for the purpose; after much discussion in the Board of
Aldermen, it was voted to build a ten-room building at the top of the
hill between Ingleside Avenue and Murray Street and the committee on
public property were instructed to erect the same. There were some
twenty-five sets of plans submitted and after they were examined,
there was no question that the plans of Wilson & Webber, who were
the architects for the Highland School were the best suited for the
lot and location, and as it was thought that the building could be
erected for the amount appropriated, plans were perfected and bids
were asked for. When bids were opened it was found that Isaac Weaver,
who built the Highland Schoolhouse, was the lowest, and the contract
was awarded to him at once as his work on the Highland School was satisfactory.
The building was started immediately. In laying out the
structure and placing on the lot, which is not square with the
street, it was found that one corner of the building came very near
the sidewalk. This would have spoiled the appearance of it, and after
due consideration and consultation with Mayor Pratt, it was decided
to place the building ten feet farther back. This made a large
additional expense, but it was deemed wise to do so. It. was expected
that the building would be completed about Jan. 1, 1898, but every
part moved so slowly that it was not ready for use until the fall
school term began. It was voted by the committee to name the building
the Prattville School.
At the laying of the corner stone of the new schoolhouse in
Prattville, September 25, 1897, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the
following gentlemen sat upon the platform: Mayor Hermon W. Pratt,
Judge Mellon Chamberlain,: Rev. R. Perry Bush representing the School
Committee; the Public Property Committee consisting of Alderman
Gorham H. Tilton, Chairman, Alderman William Martin, and Alderman
Herbert A. and the Rev. Samuel A. Cathcart who made the prayer and
pronounced the benediction. His Honor, Mayor Hermon W. Pratt, spoke
as follows:
"Fellow Citizens, Friends, and Neighbors: It is with a
peculiar sense of gratification that I stand here today as Mayor of
this City, to assist in the ceremonies of laying the comer stone of
the Prattville Schoolhouse. Man and boy, I have lived in, this
locality, and in the lapse of years have seen it change from a
farming community to what it is today - one of the prettiest suburban
spots in the vicinity of Boston. And I feel that I may say, without
danger of being called egotistical, that my fathers before me have
had a share in making Prattville what it is today. You will pardon me
if in my remarks I become reminiscent, and take you back to my
boyhood days, to the year 1850, when with some fifteen or twenty
other boys and girls, I attended school on almost this very spot. How
well I remember that little old-fashioned schoolhouse, built by the
neighbors giving their time and material, its one story, its one
room, with its dingy windows, its coat of paint worn off, its one big
door, its row of homely benches, and last, but not least, the huge
chimney and the cheerful fire of crackling logs. And how well I
recall our beloved teacher, Miss Smith, who taught us our a, b, c's,
and our reading, writing and arithmetic. And when I perceive the
magnificent building that early in 1898 will receive the scholars of
this district, I congratulate them on the march of progress that has
been made in this locality the last fifty years.
While, as chief magistrate of our City, I have tried to do
my whole duty by the entire community, and have had as much interest
in the welfare of the lower wards as in this locality, it is but
natural that I should feel especially proud to participate in the
laying of this comerstone of the beautiful building that will be
erected on this spot during my administration. Future generations, as
they receive their education in this school, should not be unmindful
of the fact that this is the spot where the extreme left of
Washington's army rested during the siege of Boston. They should be
taught that on this very hill encamped a band of patriots who placed
country before all that was dear to them, and by their efforts
enabled us to stand here today as citizens of the most free and
enlightened country in the world. And as this corner stone is placed
in position, (laying corner stone) let me say that as the builder
slowly but surely raises the structure, cementing block upon block,
and brick upon brick, until in its completion, it stands as a glory
and a pride, perfect in architectural design, so may our boys and
girls receive in its spacious chambers those precepts and
instructions that will so mould their characters as to make them
useful citizens of this great country of ours, and a credit to the
City of Chelsea."
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