151 High Street

History

The Kelley School is situated next to a long, tree-lined promenade known as the Bartlet Mall along High Street in Newburyport. One of its close neighbors is the Bullfinch-designed Superior Court House, the longest, continually-operating (state) superior court house in the country.

The 1872 school, designed by architect Rufus Sargent and named for then-mayor Dr. Elbridge Gerry Kelley, was the second-oldest school still operating in the country at the time it was decommissioned by local officials in 2007 (135 years).

Situated along the City’s best-known street - High Street - and overlooking the courthouse and adjoining Frog Pond greenway, the Kelley School is one of but three public buildings located along an otherwise prominent residential street. Before the construction of the Kelley School, five other schools had been built on or near the Bartlett Mall, none of which remained at the time of the Kelley’s construction (McCarthy, folio).

Rufus Sargent, Kelley School Architect:

A descendant of one of the First Settlers of Newbury, Rufus Sargent was born in Amesbury in 1812. He later made his home in Newburyport, where he died in 1886. He began his career as a carpenter and engineer before becoming a well-respected local architect. Sargent designed both residential and commercial structures throughout his architectural career.

In addition to the Kelley School, additional public/commercial structures he designed in Newburyport include the Institution for Savings’ main office at 93 State Street, the former home of the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank, which is the building locally-known as the “O’Brien Building”, located at 80 State Street, and St. Anna’s Chapel at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church located at 166 High Street.

(Note: although construction was completed in 1873, the dedication plate built into the school facade during construction, as well as MACRIS and other sources, all use 1872 as the build date of the school.)