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Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse

acquired 6/2023

The Foster Preservation Society is happy to announce that on June 28, 2023, we became the proud owners of the Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse!

Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse - October 2024. The land has been cleared and the restoration efforts have begun.

The Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse is the last remaining one-room schoolhouse in the Town of Foster which has not been totally remodeled for a second life as a home or library. Though currently in poor condition due to years of neglect, the ravages of time, and having been used as a storage shed, the schoolhouse itself remains mostly unchanged. It is the Society's goal to restore the schoolhouse along with its three outbuildings (a woodshed and two outhouses - one for boys and one for girls) so the public can get a glimpse of early life and education in Foster.

Built in 1840 on Hartford Pike (Route 101) just west of Mt. Hygeia Road, this small building was an active one-room schoolhouse for over one hundred years until the Captain Isaac Paine School was opened in 1952. Children attended Mt. Hygeia for grades one through eight with one teacher overseeing and instructing all grades. When in operation the school was heated with a wood stove which someone needed to light early each morning. In addition, since there was no well on site, the day's supply of water needed to be fetched each day by the "water boys" and transported to the school where it was stored in a stone crock to be used throughout the day.

Records show there was a deed for a schoolhouse lot in the Mt. Hygeia area as early as 1755, but it is unknown whether an earlier school building was constructed at that time. The Society has discovered that the frame of the current building was saved from a previous schoolhouse dating from 1822 which had been built on the same lot.

With the help of Society members, volunteers, donors, and granting agencies, these restoration efforts have now begun, but we expect this to be a long and expensive process. If you are interested in helping with this effort to preserve a part of Foster history, you can make a donation through the easy to use button located on the Home Page of our website. You can also feel free to contact the Society at the phone number or email located at the bottom of this page.

Thank you in advance!

A description of the Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse appears below. This was taken from the 1982 Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission - Survey of Foster.

In June 2025, one of the outhouses (the boys) at the Mt. Hygeia schoolhouse was restored.

Restoration of the second outhouse (the girls) began in September 2025.

This was the condition of the boys outhouse when we acquired the property.

Restoration underway
June 2025

Newly restored boys outhouse
September 2025

In March 2025, the FPS put a much needed new roof on the Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse

Inside the schoolhouse with daylight
streaming in prior to the new roof.

First, the old roof was stripped off to expose the original rafters.

Next, new sheathing was installed on the entirety of the building.

As part of the project, the chimney was repointed.

The new roof is just about complete in this picture.

FUTURE STEP: repair/replacement
of the windows.

Between September and November 2025, the collapsed floor was replaced. This project (funded by the 1772 Foundation/PreserveRI) included, replacement of some damaged sills, all new joists and hangers, and a new subfloor.

Collapsed floor before work started

Collapsed floor at front of schoolhouse. 1840 sills and foundation are visible

A group of Preservation Society members visit the Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse and enjoy seeing the new floor. The view is of the same corner of the building seen in the picture shown above.

The new floor looking towards the front of the building

History of the Mount Hygeia Schoolhouse

(c. 1840, #68)

Located on the north side of Hartford Pike, just west of the intersection with Mt. Hygeia Road (route 94).

This typical 1-story, 1-room schoolhouse, with paired entrances in the south gable end, is the only un-remodeled schoolhouse in Foster and one of seven schoolhouses surviving in any form. In the last half of the 19th century Foster had eighteen school districts, by the time of school consolidation in 1952, however, only seven schoolhouses remained in use; Mount Hygeia was one of them. A 1755 deed for a schoolhouse lot in the Mount Hygeia area is the earliest known reference to any school or school building in Foster.

The Foster Preservation Society would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their generous donations to this effort.

In 2025, the 1772 foundation / Preserve Rhode Island provided grant funding to replacing the floor and underlying structures at the Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse.

In 2024, Navigant Credit Union awarded a grant to assist in the restoration efforts underway at the Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse.

In 2024, as part of the THRIVE grant, Rhode Island Humanities provided funding to assist in the restoration efforts underway at the Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse.

The following folks (listed alphabetically) have generously contributed funds to the Mt. Hygeia Schoolhouse restoration project: