portsmouthhistorynotes

“If it wasn’t here, it was near.” That was the repeated phrase of our guide when we toured the Holy Land. I find myself saying the same thing when it comes to the second location of the Southermost School. I always thought that location was the same lot that was the home of the Gibbs School. The timing worked out perfectly. The schoolhouse went to Lakeside Farm when the Almy family bought it at auction in 1863. The building date of the Gibbs School was 1864. I imagined that the Southermost School had to be moved away for the construction of the newer school. When I went to research the Gibbs School, I began to have my doubts. There was much debate about what to do with the Gibbs School when it was no longer needed in the 1940s, because the original donor of the land (Listed as Parker Lawton in one newspaper article and Edward Lawton in another) stipulated that the property is “to be used and improved by School District No. 3 for school purposes only, forever.” (Note – at that time each of the one room schools functioned independently as is own district.). This was written in a deed in 1845. Parker sold the lot to the town for $60, but family members claimed that the land should go back to the Lawton family if it is not needed for a school.

Some histories of the Southermost School said it was moved around 1800 to a location on Union Street closer to West Main Road. If the Gibbs School lot wasn’t available, Southermost School could not have been in its location unless it was not on town property. A newspaper account from 1970 reports that “Southermost School was moved from its first location to the west end of Union Street – the Fred Sherman land now owned by Mrs. Robert Young.” The article states that the Gibbs School was built across Union Street from the land where the Southermost school had been. What is further confusing is that the 1850 Ward map of Newport County shows the schoolhouse to the North of Union Street close to West Main Road. Confusing!