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Brick Schoolhouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
U.S. National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property
(2021)
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Location	Providence, Rhode Island
Coordinates	41°49′43″N 71°24′34″W / 41.82861°N 71.40944°W / 41.82861; -71.40944
Built	1768
Part of	College Hill Historic District (ID70000019)
NRHP reference No.	72000038
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 5, 1972
Designated NHLDCP	November 10, 1970

The Brick Schoolhouse, also known as the Meeting Street School, is a historic colonial school at 24 Meeting Street in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. It was one of the first free schools in the United States, and the first schoolhouse in Providence built as a permanent structure. When what became Brown University was getting settled in Providence, its classes were held in the school. In 1828, the schoolhouse became the first public school to be open to African American children. Still owned by the city, it is used now by the Providence Preservation Society as a Meeting Hall.

History

The school was built in 1768 to serve as a school, the first structure in Providence specifically built for the purpose. The building temporarily housed the college that became Brown University when it moved from Warren to Providence in 1770, and the university's corporation met there to determine the college's final placement in the city. During the American Revolutionary War, Brown's University Hall was used to house French troops, and the Meeting Street schoolhouse was used for college classes once again. There is also some evidence that a some time during the war, the schoolhouse was used by the colonials as an arsenal and to manufacture gunpowder.

A group of Rhode Islanders led by John Howland started one of the first free public schools in 1800 in the schoolhouse at 24 Meeting Street. The building housed various schools over the next two centuries, including a school for black children, a cooking school, and a fresh air school for tubercular children, the first such program in America. From 1946 to 1957, the Meeting Street School met in the Brick Schoolhouse educating children with cerebral palsy. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It currently serves as the headquarters for the Providence Preservation Society, a group founded in 1956, which hosts various educational and community events at the property.

Gallery

• The building altered to function as a fresh air school in 1915
• The schoolhouse in 1933 (HABS)

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence, Rhode Island

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
2. ^ NRHP nomination form
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-11-11. Retrieved 2011-11-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Providence Preservation Society website
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. RI-191, "Brick Schoolhouse, 24 Meeting Street, Providence, Providence County, RI", 1 photo, 5 data pages, supplemental material

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• Schoolhouses in the United States
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• Buildings and structures in Providence, Rhode Island
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• National Register of Historic Places in Providence, Rhode Island