Boarding Schools
Fragmentary records for the school continue into the 1880’s and early ’90’s. In 1892, the building was sold to George Catlin who repaired and improved it to be used as a meeting house of the Adventist congregation in addition to its use as a school. The school committee voted $200 for the operation of the school for four months in 1896. The instructor, a Professor Cole of New York, offered to give students lessons in chemistry but was declined by the board. In 1897, the building was purchased by the town and used as the town hall until 1913 when it was sold and remodeled into a home on South Road.
With the demise of the private academies, Harwinton students desiring a secondary education went to high schools in surrounding towns. In 1903, students’ tuitions were paid by the town as long as parents provided transportation. A year later, transportation was subsidized at a rate of two cents per mile up to five miles. The mileage subsidy was eventually increased to $70, half of which was paid by the state. According to Bentley, the first Harwinton school bus was a 1924 REO Speedwagon, although in Memories of Harwinton, a vehicle dated to 1935 is cited as the first bus. By 1931, City Bus Lines of Torrington was providing transportation for some Harwinton students.
By the 1950’s, the overcrowding of Torrington High School was limiting the number of Harwinton students who could attend and Harwinton began to look at regionalization. After studying the possibilities of combining with Morris, Warren and Goshen and later with New Hartford, the town meeting turned down both options because of the distance involved in transportation. By 1960, Harwinton had agreed to form a regional district with Burlington and had built a 650-student public facility. Lewis S. Mills High School opened in 1961, named for a much-admired supervisor of the elementary schools who had served in both towns at various times. Although the school was located just over the line in Burlington, Harwinton students could again achieve a secondary education in their own home district.
