Adams School

School overcrowding may be a modern issue, but in pre-Civil War Castine it was also of great importance. With maritime trade booming, Castine’s population had grown.

As early as 1846 the school committee had begun talking about a new schoolhouse on the Town Common. Whether through caution or frugality, they chose instead to renovate a room in the no-longer-standing Town House and make repairs to another village school.

In 1853 the committee took action. They purchased a lot at the northwest corner of the Common and built a double schoolhouse in the Greek Revival style, with separate entrances and stairs for boys and girls.

School committee records show that there was much fluidity on how the Common’s schools were used. For instance, the Adams School was used as the high school until 1873, when that role was taken over by the Abbott School.

The building you see today was renovated in the twentieth century to have one entrance with modern additions in the back. With five teachers, a principal, and support staff, the school serves approximately sixty students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

For more information, please visit the Adams School website: https://www.castineschools.org