Gill — Schools
Extracted from "History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, Volume II," by Louis H. Everts, 1879.
During the early settlement of Gill educational advantages were not lavished upon the youth of the period, for those were stirring times, in which the serious interests of the day absorbed wellnigh all the energies and cares of the hardy pioneer. Still, schooling was provided, and, in lieu of school-houses, the dwellings of those who could spare them for the purpose were the mystic precincts wherein the rural pedagogue taught the young idea how to climb the dizzy heights of learning. Usually the part of the house built expressly for the accommodation of the loom was the place selected for the school-room.
The first school-house was probably the one built at the centre of the town, in 1793, or previously. The records of that year speak of posting notices upon each school-house in town. The town was not divided into school districts until 1823. Gill has never enjoyed educational privileges beyond those offered by common district schools. There were in 1878 six schools, and for that year $800 were appropriated to support them. The town possesses a free library of about 400 volumes, supported by the fund arising from the dog tax.
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