The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-07-24
GOVERNOR LAYS
CORNER STONE
AT ORLEANS
Nearly 1000 Attend EXer'
cises at New Orleans.
School

Governor HartneSs and State
Commission of Education Clar-
ence H. Dempsey were the guests
of honor at the laying of the cor
ner stone of the new High school
building at Orleans on Saturday
afternoon. The corner stone was
laid by the Gov ernor who also
made short address. Close to
1000 people attended the dedica-
ton which means so much to the
future generations in Orleans. 1t
is expected that the fine new
structure will be ready by Jan
uary 1St.
1t was an ideal afternoon for the
exercises and the little town of
Orleans never looked brighter and
more beautiful. Flags were flying
from most of the homes of the
town and nearly everyone took a
half holiday to attend the exer-
cises.
1.-THE program opened with the
playing of STARS and Stripes For
ever" by the Orleans band, lnvo-
cation was by the Rev. o. j. Ward.
O. Dean Mathews, president of
the Orleans High School Alumni
association, made an announce
ment as to the purposes and OBJ
jects of the new school. President
Mathews introduced the various
speakers. "Our Countrys Flag"
was sung by the pupils of the
schools.
Commissioner Dempsey gave a
very instructive and impressive ad-
dress on Corner Stones. He said
they related more to the moral up
building than to the matter of
brick and stone. The band follow
ed with "Poet and Peasant.
An interesting history of the Or
leans schools prepared by Miss
Florence Gillis was read by c. V.
Wiley.
Miss Gillis' paper was as fol-
lows:
In the year OF 1882, school
district in Barton Landing was or
ganized and the first school house
was build that year on land now
owned by Ezra Taylor. 1t was sit
uated on the east side of the road
leading to Barton ,and a little
south of the place where lrasburg
street joins Main street. 1t was a
one-story structure with seats on
either side in three tiers. This was
later moved across the street to
the west side and become a part
of the residence owned for many
years by Daniel Skinner. Later it
was moved to Irasburg street and
now stands at the corner of Pros
pect and Irasburg streets, and is
owned at the present time by f. M.
Porter.
In 1853, new school building
was built on Main street. This
building was so arranged that two
school rooms could be used in the
winter terms when more pupils
were in atteenda nee. This building
served as school house until 1873.
then passed into possession of pri-
vate individuals who added a story
to it and now is occupied by Or
leans Market and tenementS.
In 1873 a larger and more com
modious building was erected. This
was the building that, with
changes, has met the needs of Or
leans until the preesnt time. At
first it Accommodated two schools
on the first floor with a hall on the
second floor which served as a
meeting place for many social
events and entertainments. About
1885 it was found necessary to use
a part of the hall for school pur-
poses, and a movable partition was
placed across it. BY the time of
the early nineties the school had
increased in size sa that the hall
was made into two rooms and in
1895 an annex was built to the
south, giving two more rooms.
In 1894 the school district of
Barton Landing was incorporated
In 1912, it was deemed wise to
remodel the building thoroughly
and to enlarge it and as a result
we have the present school build
ing of today.
For several years, the high
school which occupied the upper
floor has felt great need of
more room.
In the spring oT 1922, the vii
lage voted to erect a suitable build
ing to be occupied by the high
school.
We have met today for the lay
ing of the corner stone of that
CONTINUED on page 81