District #3 School

District #3 School, Cumberland, Maine

The District Three schoolhouse was built in 1853 to replace the original wooden schoolhouse located across the road, which burned.

Later distinguished as Cumberland Center Primary, it housed one of the largest classes in the area. Rita McCloskey recalls the schoolhouse when E. K. Sweetser taught in the 1880s, “with its double seats and desks, the two stoves for warmth in winter, the teacher’s ready bell, and that pail of water with the old familiar dipper shared by all.”

Pupils of District #3 School, Cumberland, Maine

After the District Three School was closed in 1950, the building became the new town office from 1951 to 1975.

Following a fire in 1955, the building was renovated to include an addition with a fireproof vault, two flush toilets, and a furnace room. Later, it housed the police department and, most recently, the Cumberland Historical Society.