Kelley Corner School House receives 2020 Moose Plate Grant

GILMANTON — The Lower Gilmanton Community has announced the Kelley Corner School House is once again the recipient of a 2020 Moose Plate Grant in the amount of $10,000. This generous grant helps us to complete Phase II which is the restoration of the interior of the Kelley Corner School House.

The Kelley Corner School House is the last remaining one-room school house in Gilmanton still in public ownership and is owned by the Gilmanton School District. Daniel Lancaster’s The History of Gilmanton, states that at the annual town meeting on June 10, 1778, it was voted that school be kept in six places, one of which was Joshua Bean’s Mill, the location of the Kelley Corner School House. It was also voted to designate the Kelley Corner School as School #1. It is not readily apparent how much of the original schoolhouse exists today without further examination of the structure. The building’s long history of educating Gilmanton’s children ended in May 1940. In 1949, the Lower Gilmanton Community Club, a women’s neighborhood group, signed a 20 year lease with the Gilmanton School District to use the school house for meetings, special dinners and to maintain the building. Again in1964, the LGCC signed a 99 year lease with the Gilmanton School District and has been holding social gatherings and maintaining the building ever since.

On April 28, 2008 the Kelley Corner School House was listed on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places. Also in 2008, the Lower Gilmanton Community Club was awarded a $10,000 Moose Plate Grant which enabled us to put a new roof on the school.

In 2016 the Kelley Corner School House was the recipient of a $9,845 Moose Plate Grant and a $17,500 Land & Community Heritage Improvement Program Grant for Phase I of the restoration project. Through the combined efforts of local craftsmen, Phase I which consisted of exterior repairs was completed.

Phase II is the interior renovation project which entails the following: There are many holes in existing sheetrock; wainscoting needs checking for wall rot and repair/replacement; holes in walls and ceiling where old light fixtures have been replaced; repair hole in kitchen wall where old fuse box was; repair and refurbish front door; repair and install screen on existing screen door; kitchen flooring and counter tops need to be replaced. Classroom floor is in good condition wear wise, but requires cleaning and refinishing. Interior painting must to be done.

The interior renovation needs have been identified by well-known and local contractors, JR Stockwell, Carpenter of Gilmanton and Steve Decatur, Wooden Window Repair and Restoration of Alton. The restoration project will begin in the spring of 2021.

This project is funded in part by a grant from the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources through the sale of Conservation License Plates.