Talk of consolidating Southwick's rural schoolhouses dates back to 1897 when the superintendent briefly mentioned it in his report; the superintendent in 1911 did the same. There was a lot of opposition to consolidating; however, the vote to build a centralized school passed on March 31, 1924. After much debate, voters officially chose the five-acre Goddard property along the college highway as the site for the new consolidated school. (It was selected in a vote, 152 to 55, during a special town meeting on April 9, 1928.) Other sites, including the Healy lot and the Jackson farm on Depot Street, were previously voted down because they needed to be deemed centrally located, a key requirement. Additionally, the Healy property required extensive grading, which would have driven up costs considerably. And the Jackson farm, priced at $12,000.00, was $5,000.00 more than the Town of Southwick was willing to pay for a site. Architect Malcolm B. Harding, born in Southwick, designed Consolid...