~ The Old Sachem ~

A brief history of Saugus schools – Part 2

By Bill Stewart

Last week we read about the Saugus schools that were built in the 1700s and 1800s. Now we will look at some of the more modern elementary schools, those of the 1900s.

The Felton School was opened in 1900 and named for Cornelius Felton, a noted college professor at Harvard University and a Saugus citizen. It was built on Central Street opposite School Street. I went to the Felton from the second grade through the sixth. It had a large playground area and the northeast corner where kids sometimes hid out. The Felton was closed in 1978; the building was demolished in 1982, and the Saugus Senior Center was built on the site. Right behind the site, I was born in 1934 in a midwife’s building.

Saugus next built the Emerson School on Lincoln Avenue across the street from the Cogliano building. The Emerson School was opened in 1906 and my sons went there in the 1970s. It is now a condominium home. It was named for the Reverend Joseph Emerson, who founded the first Female Seminary in the nation in Saugus near the center on Main Street.

Next the town built a new school in East Saugus in 1911 and named it the Ballard School. When it opened, Saugus received a letter from President William Howard Taft, and it was read to the public. He congratulated Saugus for building a new school. In 2003 it was closed as an elementary school, and in 2010 it was leased and reopened as the Early Childhood Center. It was closed again in 2017 and was transferred from the School Committee to the Town of Saugus in 2020. No decision has been made on its future or the reuse of the former school grounds.

The Lynnhurst Elementary School was built in 1964 and shut down in 2021 as part of the school district’s reconfiguration plan. The school was and is at 443 Walnut St. and 10 Elm St. The students were moved to the Veterans School and the town took over the grounds and buildings. My grandchildren who lived on Fairmount Avenue attended the school as youngsters. The Oaklandvale School was built about the same time as the Lynnhurst and is still located on Main Street north of the J. Pace building and the VFW. It, too, was closed in 2021. The Douglas Waybright School was opened in the 1960s and also shut down in 2021. It is located at the end of Talbot Street. All three elementary schools had their students moved either to the Veterans Early Learning Center (prekindergarten to first grade) or the Belmonte STEAM Academy (second- to fifth-graders) These three former school buildings were turned over to the town in 2022. No decision has been made on their future or the reuse of the school grounds.

The Sweetser School was located on Lincoln Avenue on the site of the former Lincoln School. It was opened as a Junior High School having eight school rooms and a large assembly hall. It was named after the Sweetser family, who lived in the neighborhood. Upon the opening of the new Saugus High School, students were moved to the Saugus Junior High School, and the building became an elementary school. The property eventually became senior housing.

Next week we will follow the Junior and Senior High Schools.

  (Editor’s Note: Bill Stewart, who is better known to Saugus Advocate readers as “The Old Sachem,” writes a weekly column – sometimes about sports. He also opines on current or historical events or famous people.)