The White School on KHS Prelude Village Walking Tour Moved Twice
While you are milling about Dock Square this weekend waiting for the Christmas Prelude Tree lights to come on, notice the building now blended into the Brown Block/Colonial Phamacy. It wasn’t always so. The humble old ‘White School,’ almost 70 years older than the Brown Block, has plenty of stories to tell.
Samuel Davis built it as a shop in 1809 at the corner of Maine Street and Union Street. He sold the lot and store to General Simon Nowell, who owned the tavern across Union Street from it, the following year.
Postmaster and shopkeeper Captain Oliver Bourne kept a store there for many years. In 1832, he finished off the second floor of his shop to be used for his beloved Methodist Church Services. The Methodist Church was built on Maine Street in 1835, at which point the upper floor of Bourne’s store was rented for use as a school. Eventually, the school District bought the building and painted it white. The entire building was used for classrooms from 1855 until the “new” school building was erected on Elm Street in 1890.
An August 1890 report in the Wave read, “The old Maine Street schoolhouse was sold at public auction Saturday afternoon to Mr. Charles C. Perkins for $900. Mr. Perkins owns the property adjoining.” Nine months later it was reported that Mr. Perkins had had the old schoolhouse moved to a position adjacent to Brown’s block in Dock Square.
The Brown Block and the White School were separate stores then. They were alone on that side of Spring Street near the bridge until 1900. Flowing chunks of ice from a freshet took out the bridge between Kennebunk Lower Village and Dock Square in 1896. With traffic growth in mind It was decided that the Kennebunkport approach to the new bridge should be wider. This alteration necessitated moving the Brown Block and the White School back 6 feet.
The White School was finally connected to the Brown Block when the First National became Colonial Phamacy. Do you remember when the two building were separate stores?
If you would like to hear more Kennebunkport Village history, meet me at the Nott House 2pm Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, both weekends of Kennebunkport Christmas Prelude 2024 for the Walking Tour.
You can reserve tickets for the walking tour HERE!
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