How many of us regularly drive by the stately white building that sits on the southwest corner of Center and Westport Roads without giving it a second thought? While those of us who have lived or worked in Easton for many years know at least something about the old Staples Academy Building, there are many more recent residents who are completely unaware of its very existence, never mind its importance in educating the children of the 19th century.
Many tales of eccentricities abound about the man whose name adorns Easton’s elementary school and the 1795 building he funded as one of the very first institutions of its kind in New England.
One story that has survived for over 250 years is that Samuel Staples, a parsimonious gentleman by nature, walked the mile or so from his residence on Wilson Road to the Meeting House (the location of today’s Congregational Church) in his bare feet with his shoes slung over his shoulder. The tale claims that Staples didn’t want to wear out the leather on his shoes.
A lifelong bachelor with no children, it might seem odd that Staples was so concerned about area children receiving a decent education. He was the first parish clerk in 1762 when the congregation laid out the first five school districts and began building several one-room schoolhouses that would supply the children living in North Fairfield Parish with a rudimentary education that would include reading, writing, and a basic understanding of mathematics.
But as Staples grew older, he realized that many children in that parish needed more if they were to answer a higher calling than simply becoming a farmer like their fathers before them. He was the largest landholder in the parish, collecting rents from many of the subsistence farmers who could not afford to purchase their own land. With no direct heirs to leave his fortune to, he began to formulize a plan to build a school that went beyond the basics, and one that children of ordinary means could afford, and if they couldn’t pay, a school that would provide them with a superior education at no cost to their parents at all.
Six years prior to his death in 1787, Samuel Staples set the wheels in motion to establish the academy that would bear his name. He established a board of trustees and gave them power of attorney to use his money to build the type of school he had long envisioned. Unable to reach an agreement on where to build the school, beginning in 1782, the academy spent its first few years floating between Fairfield, Stratfield, and Greenfield Hill.
It wasn’t until 1793, six years after Staples passed, that the State Legislature ordered the trustees to construct the building we know today near the Meeting House in the old North Fairfield Parish, then part of the Town of Weston. The building was completed in 1795, and today, it stands as the oldest public building in Easton.
The following advertisement for the new institution appeared in the American Telegraph and Fairfield County Gazzette on June 15, 1796.
STAPLES’ FREE SCHOOL
The free-school founded by the late Mr. Samuel Staples, is now agreeable to an act of the General Assembly, located at Weston, in the Parish of North-Fairfield. A commodious house divided into several apartments is erected near the Meetinghouse, for the purpose of keeping said school; in which “Children, Youth and Mankind, especially the poor” may, according to the foundation and charter, be instructed in the English tongue, the learned languages, and the liberal Arts and Sciences from the specimens given by upwards of a hundred children and youth of both sexes, who have been under the care of John Saltmarsh, A.M. the present Master of said School, and his assistants… The improvements they have exhibited in reading, writing, speaking, English grammar, geography, etc. the trustees flatter themselves that the institution will meet with the notice and encouragement of the public. Its revived situation may be peculiarly advantageous to youth of a studious turn, and to such whose parents and guardians would wish to keep them from the avocations and allurements of more populous places. Boarding may be had at a cheap rate in houses not far from the Academy. They who are unable to pay for their instruction, will have it gratis.
There are two things that stand out in that advertisement, not the least being the assertion that “children and youth of both sexes” were already receiving an education at the academy. Young girls in the late eighteenth century were seldom afforded anything beyond the most basic of an education, so the fact that the Staples Free School was offering their services to children of both sexes was truly remarkable. The other was that children whose parents could not afford the one-dollar per quarter tuition would receive their education for free.
The academy operated until 1901. Since that time, the building has continued to serve the community in many ways, first as a public school for nearly thirty years, a public meeting place where municipal meetings and elections were held, and as a church hall for the Congregational Church of Easton which still retains ownership of the property.
By early 2023, the members of Congregational Church of Easton were concerned about the high cost of maintaining both the edifice that housed the church and the old Academy building that served as the church hall. Faced with the possibility of having to sell one or both of their buildings, they turned to the Historical Society of Easton for advice on how to assure that any action they took, the buildings would survive, and their history maintained.
There were several options available, but each one required a different approach and would take time to put in place. In the end, the congregation decided against taking the easiest route, which would have been to sell the property with a long-term agreement with the prospective buyer to continue to use the church as long as the congregation remained viable.
Fortunately, by then there was enough interest within the community to see to it that the old Academy Building somehow be saved to serve the town as a whole and not be sold to an entity that couldn’t guarantee its preservation as a historic landmark. There were also new members of the congregation who stepped forward with financial donations and the expertise to create a separate foundation that was dedicated to the preservation and restoration efforts that the building required.
With the continued cooperation with the Historical Society of Easton and assistance from the State Historic Preservation Office and Preservation Connecticut, efforts to research and confirm the building’s historic significance are underway to secure both national and state recognition.
In late 2024, the Staples Academy Foundation, a 501(c) (3) was established to help preserve and restore this important Easton landmark so that it can continue to serve the community – not as a museum, but as a vital part of the community’s commitment to serve all its citizens. You can learn more about the building and the foundation’s efforts to keep it going for another 230 years by visiting their website at: https://staplesacademyfoundation.org/.
There are now multiple events regularly scheduled at the Old Academy Building – most with the goal of bringing the community together to celebrate its rich history and promising future. Among others, there has already been a PowerPoint presentation about the Sport Hill Races that were held during the first decade of the 20th century, a fantastic Whiskey tasting fund raiser, and a well-attended holiday party hosted by the Historical Society.
Upcoming events include a community discussion about Easton’s early schools on the 20th of this month, an old fashion spaghetti fundraiser dinner on the 22nd, an Irish music concert on March 13th and a corn beef and cabbage dinner on the 15th to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. Tickets for all the upcoming events are available on the Foundation’s website, listed above.
Donations are currently being sought to upgrade the building’s electrical system at: https://www.gofundme.com/…/preserve-staples…/cl/o…
Won’t you please help us preserve this important part of Easton’s and our nation’s educational past by giving what you can, today?
