MARY E. WELLS HIGH SCHOOL SOUTHBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL HISTORY

On December 31st of 1916, Superintendent of Schools Fred E. Corbin made the following announcement:  "The new building (Mary E. Wells High School) will be occupied for the first time next September.  The building is designed to accommodate 300 pupils.  The high school will probably number 150 pupils."  The school opened its doors to the first pupils in September of 1917.  The school was named in honor of Mrs. Mary E. Wells, who had served prominently on the Southbridge School Committee.  Mrs. Wells was the first woman elected to public office in Southbridge, and her contributions to the Town and to the School will be outlined separately.

Prior to construction of the building at the corner of Main and Marcy Streets, high school classes were conducted at the first Town Hall.  In a chronology of Southbridge History, Margaret Morrissey notes that the Town Hall was built at a cost of $3,809.78 in 1837, and that the high school was housed on the second floor.  A "newer" Town Hall was constructed at the present location in 1888. 

The original high school was built in a "U" shape, with the main entrances located on the Marcy Street wing of the building. In June of 1918 Mrs. Mary E. Wells, in a letter to the School Committee, announced her donation of a fully equipped auditorium to be added to the building.  The auditorium was dedicated in June of 1922, its construction delayed by material shortages during the First World War. 

In June of 1924 an additional 16 rooms were added, presumably parallel to the Pine Street side of the building. Although much discussed, the original plans to construct a gymnasium under the auditorium never came to fruition. 

Mary E. Wells ceased to exist as a high school with the graduation of the Class of 1961. The building presently houses a Junior High School.