- B.M.C. Durfee High School
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This article is about the historic school building on Rock Street in Fall River. For the present school on Elsbree Street in Fall River, see B.M.C. Durfee High School (1978).B.M.C. Durfee High School
Location: Fall River, Massachusetts Coordinates: 41°42′20″N 71°9′8″W / 41.70556°N 71.15222°WCoordinates: 41°42′20″N 71°9′8″W / 41.70556°N 71.15222°W Built: 1886 Architect: George A. Clough; Norcross Bros. Architectural style: Renaissance Governing body: State NRHP Reference#: 81000109
[1]Added to NRHP: June 11, 1981 B.M.C. Durfee High School is an historic former high school building at 289 Rock Street in Fall River, Massachusetts.
The school was built in 1886 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. It was restored in the early 1990s and is now operated as a probate and family courthouse by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Contents
Historical background
Durfee High School, 1920
The school was built as a donation from Mrs. Mary B. Young to the people of the city of Fall River, in memory of her son Bradford Matthew Chaloner Durfee, who had died at a young age in 1872, leaving a sizable inheritance.[2]
George A. Clough, a Boston architect was chosen to design the building. Ground was broken in August 1883. The first story of the school is constructed of native Fall River Granite, while the stone of the upper portions is from Mason, New Hampshire. The new high school was formally dedicated to the city on June 15, 1887. [3]
The building occupies a commanding position atop a hill in the city's Highlands neighborhood, and is visible from miles around. Even today, the school's sports teams are known as the "Durfee Hilltoppers".
Recent history
In 1978, the city opened a new, much larger high school in the north end, also named "B.M.C. Durfee High School". The old high school remained vacant until the early 1990s when it was taken over by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for use as a Probate Court House. The restoration was completed in the mid-1990s, and today, the building has been well preserved for future generations to admire.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Fall River, Massachusetts
- Highlands Historic District (Fall River, Massachusetts)
- B.M.C. Durfee High School (present)
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ Article on Donation of School
- ^ Commemorative Book on BMC Durfee High School
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