In the early days people, didn’t catch the bus or get a ride with mom to school. They walked to school, and communities built more schools to give more children the opportunity of an education. Many of them were scattered throughout Andover and East Andover. Some of them still exist and have found other uses as homes or outbuildings. The Tucker Mountain School was built in 1837. It served as a one room school house until 1893. Today it is maintained by the Andover Historical Society close to its original condition.

The Andover Historical Society opens the Tucker Mountain School House doors the 2nd Sunday of each month from June through October. Doors are open from 1 to 3pm to give young and old alike the opportunity to experience what a day at school used to be like.

On Sunday, July 14, from 2pm till 3pm, Storyteller Lauretta Phillips will share stories of the life and times people in the mid to late 1800s who might have attended Tucker Mountain School House. Lauretta is a resident of Andover and has been a professional storyteller since 1987. She writes most of the stories she tells, is a published short story author, was a radio host for 15 years and does a television program for Concord cable. When she is not telling stories or teaching storytelling or writing, she likes to make quilts and work on her miniature general store.

The 1837 school house will also have a variety of artifacts on exhibit which include an authentic hickory stick, ink wells, quill pens, slates, copy books, school books, lunch pails, and town and school records.

For more information about Tucker Mountain School or to arrange a visit to the school house at another time, contact the Andover Historical Society at 735-5628 or 735-5586.

For more information about Lauretta Phillips or to book her for your event, visit LPhillipsTales.com or call 735-5965

“What Kind of Town is This?”

The following is a very condensed version of one of the stories that Lauretta tells.

The old man pulled the chair out from the porch wall and sat down. He leaned it back on its two hind legs till the back touched the wall and lifted his size 13 boots, feet and all, and placed them onto the porch railing.

The boy pulled his chair out, tilting it back on its two hind legs. He lifted his boy size 6s onto the railing ’til his young ankles clutched the railing, holding the boy and the chair in position.

After a while, the old man pulled his watch from his pocket and checked the time. The boy pulled a wrist watch from his pocket and checked it against the old man’s. They both nodded.

A wagon piled high with possession and kids pulled up by the gate. The man driving the wagon shouted from the seat, “We are looking for a new place to settle. What kind of people ya got around here, old man?”

“What kind did you have where yer comin’ from?” the old man asked.

“Oh, they was the worst kind there is to gossip and back-stab a person you would ever meet. That’s why we left,” he shouted back.

“Well, those are just the kind of folks you will find around here, too, then,” replied the old man.

“Guess we’ll go on to the next town then.” He flipped the reins and moved on down the road.

The old man and the boy checked their watches again.

Late afternoon, another loaded wagon pulled up to the gate. The man jumped down and came to the porch steps. He introduced himself and passed the time of day.

“What kind of folks live around here?” he eventually asked the old man. “We are looking for a good place to start over and raise our family.”

“What kind of folks did you have back home?” the old man asked.

“Well, they was the nicest neighbors to watch out for each other and lend a hand you would ever want to meet,” he said. “We sure hated to leave them behind, but times are hard and there was no work.”

“Well, those are just the kind of folks you will find here, too, then,” replied the old man. Then he told him of a farmer down the road who had need of a hand, and the job came with a house to live in as well.

He thanked the old man and headed down the road to see that farmer before someone else beat him to the job.

The old man and the boy checked their watches one last time to see if they were done for the day. They stood up, turned, and went in the house for supper.