Photo Day at One-Room Plains Schoolhouse

This 1890s-era photo is rich with detail about the Portsmouth Plains
brick schoolhouse, first opened on January 3, 1846. Three teachers stand
at the back by blackboards and a porcelain sink beneath a portrait of
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. There is a heater on the left and a square
grand piano on the right topped with dried flowers. Good boys and girls,
hands crossed, stare somberly at the camera positioned above the
teacher?s cluttered desk.

In recent years, the restored building has been the home of Pontine performers Greg Gathers and Marguerite Matthews. Pontine was founded in 1977. Here’s a little more from their website:

“Built in 1845, the Plains School served students through 1942.  The one-room brick school then hosted activities of the Girl Scouts, then the Elks, and for many years was home to the Sons of Italy.  In 2016, Pontine Theatre began a collaboration with the City of Portsmouth to transform the Plains School into a center for arts, humanities, history, and culture.  Renovations were completed in 2017 and the Plains Schoolhouse now houses all of Pontine Theatre’s programs on the seacoast.

The Plains School is located at 1 Plains Avenue in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  The space is fully accessible and there’s free, easy parking across the street at the public lot for the Plains Ball Field. ”