S. S. #16 Wellesley School Visitors Book, , 1859-1951

Click on the image to access the Visitors Book.

The title of this book is a bit misleading. It starts out with reports written by visiting trustees, but also includes minutes of the annual meeting of the ratepayers of the school section. The meeting minutes are interspersed with the trustee reports, all out of order. Some of the early trustee reports are in German.

One of the early visitors, Ludwig Schmidt, wrote this report of his visit to the school on November 7, 1859: 

"Today I visited the school and found it well conducted and also very well taught in both languages Dutch & English. I must therefore say I am well satisfied with the manner in which our school is conducted." 

The banner photo is the stone school, built in 1855 (photo by Charles F. Ottman, jr, ca 1900-1906). It was replaced in 1898 by the current "old school l" which houses the library and the WTHHS Historical Room.