Existing comment:
Darnestown
Andrew Small Academy
The years following the Civil War were a booming time for Darnestown. Local residents repaired damages from the war and returned to their daily means of livelihood. Andrew Small was a C&O Canal contractor and became familiar with Darnestown during his career. In 1867 upon his deathbed, he bequeathed $35,000 to the community to construct a school. His gift was used to found the Andrew Small Academy, on of the few accredited college preparatory schools in Montgomery County and a rarity for a rural area before the public school system was created.
The Academy building was constructed in 1869 to the southeast of the Darnestown Presbyterian Church and soon began to draw pupils from outside of the community. The third floor was used as living quarters for boarding students. Day students from Darnestown and neighboring communities also attended. The academy was a cultural center for the community, providing avenue for plays, concerts, recitals, and even a literary society.
Though the Academy was closed in 1907, the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners of Public Schools took over the building and used it as a high school until 1927, when it became an elementary school. The building was demolished in 1955 and replaced by the existing Darnestown Elementary School, which stands only a few hundred feet from the [sic] where the academy was once located.
Textbook Learning:
Children learned the alphabet, expanded their vocabulary, and were given daily spelling 'slate work' courtesy of the McGuffey Reader, the most popular American textbook in the 19th century. |