ANDOVER — Last October, the Andover Historical Society hired Brad Hartwell of Tucker Mountain to replace punky clapboards on the north end of the Tucker Mountain Schoolhouse. In the process of stripping the old siding, the interior plank walls were exposed, revealing some interesting details that conjured up questions as to how it was built.
Photos were sent to Donavon Freeman, former Property Manager at Shaker Village in Canterbury where he was in charge of maintenance and restoration. We were curious as to what kind of a saw would make the perpendicular marks on the boards. We also wondered about a row of pegs above the window and a hole at the peak of the wall (see photo).
Donavon replied, “I’ve not seen many buildings like this, but I’ve been told that the term is plank framing. I would assume that the floor frame was built first. The ceiling and roof frame was probably built at ground level, then raised into position and held by the plank walls pegged to the floor frame and roof frame.
“This is purely conjecture, but it’s how I would do it if I tried to replicate the building.” Answering our question about the saw marks, he explained, “The wall planks and roof boards were probably sawn at a water-powered up-and-down sawmill.” Readers interested in seeing how this kind of saw mill works may go to youtube.com/watch?v=47beFbH3j5Q.
It’s worth noting that just two miles from the Schoolhouse, there once stood a sawmill. It was erected in 1766 on the outlet of Highland Lake (formerly called Loon Pond) and very near the hosiery mill building now owned by Jason Dudek (Eastman, History of Andover, NH, 1910, p. 263).
Even closer was the Emery sawmill, erected in 1837, the year that the Schoolhouse was built. It was powered by Sucker Brook on Valley Road, on property now owned by Ed and Mary Hiller (Chaffee, Andover Lakes, Rivers and Ponds, 1974, p. 75). As for the hole made at the top of the wall, this would have been used to lift the plank wall into place, creating a means to strap a rope or pulley.
Built by Benjamin Tucker (1799 – 1873) for $100, the Schoolhouse remains solid. The wall planks are two inches thick and 16-plus inches wide. Donavon explained that the wall plates and truss were morticed together and then fastened to the plank walls with wooden pegs. This explains the row of large pegs exposed above the window.
The space under the roof and above the classroom is not easily accessible. Recent photos show the main roof rafter and trusses held by “bridle” joints (see photo). Cross posts, or “roof purlin,” were used to attach the roof boards.
In 2009, the asphalt shingles (circa 1970s) were replaced with cedar shingles to replicate the original wood shakes. In this crawl space, one can find a 26x26x8-inch granite stone. The stone served as a stovepipe “collar” and base for the chimney. It looks likely to have been one stone but perhaps the act of chiseling the eight-inch hole for a stove pipe split it in half.
A few pieces of old brick remain mortared to the stone. It rests on two 3×3-inch joists which are held by “pocket mortices” to an 8×8-inch and a 2×4-inch beam (see photo and sketch). A 10-foot or higher brick chimney was built on this base. It is remarkable that it held up!
Referring to buildings at Shaker Village, Donavon recalls, “The dwelling house and the North Shop each had two chimneys supported by wood framing. These chimneys were at least two feet square and 20 feet tall.”
Sometime in the mid-1900s, the Schoolhouse chimney was taken down. The old bricks have been stored in the stone foundation under the two-holer.
The original wood stove remains in the classroom. The chimney that visitors see on the roof is actually a replica built by Daryl Baker of Coventry, Connecticut, built in 2009. Other improvements made in recent years include:
2009 — plaster ceiling restored by Patrick McCleary, of Cannon, New Hampshire
2013 — windows restored by Arch Weathers, of Historic SashWorks, LLC
2023 — repainted Cottage Red, the closest color to the original Venetian Red recorded in the 1837 original record book
2024 — iron handrail installed, made by Jay Aubertin, of J. A. Metalcraft
— stone added to top step, donated by Anne and Steve Lord, of Peterborough, New Hampshire. This stone came from the William Tucker property, across from the Schoolhouse and now owned by the Lords.
Many thanks to Donavon Freeman for sharing his expertise with us.