Historical Sketch

In 1642, a new Massachusetts law required every parent, as well as every master of an apprentice, to ensure that their children learn to read and write. A 1647 law required towns consisting of fifty or more families to hire a schoolmaster to educate the children of the town in reading and writing. These laws were subsequently enforced in 1675, when the General Court of Massachusetts created a new class of government officials charged with inspecting families to make sure they obeyed the education laws.

On 2 October 1676, thirty-eight residents of Jamaica Plain (also called Pond Plain) pledged to pay various sums, from one shilling to two pounds, annually for twelve years for support of a school. The sums totaled fourteen pounds and eleven shillings to be paid yearly in corn, "half Indian and the other half English, at the current price amongst us," on or before the 25th day of March. Before the end of that year, several residents gave land to fund the school. John Ruggles gave the triangular piece of land in front of the Unitarian Church where the Soldiers' Monument now stands. Hugh Thomas and his wife Clement gave their house, orchard, lot, and night pasture to the school on the condition that the residents would care for them as they got older. Others also donated smaller pieces of land.

The most significant donor was the Rev. John Eliot, for whom Eliot Street and Eliot Hall are also named. The minister to Native Americans gave 75 acres of land to the school in 1689. He wrote that the proceeds were to be used "for teaching and instructing of the children of that end of town (together with such Negroes or Indians as may or shall come to said school)..." Eliot said the purpose of the school was "to remove the inconvenience of ignorance."

The Eliot School has had four different locations. First, it was located in two different buildings in the area where the Soldiers' Monument now stands. In 1787, the school was moved from its original location to the corner of Centre and Green Streets. In 1832, it moved to the building at 24 Eliot Street next to the Unitarian Church where it is today. In 1840, it became a high school, when the trustees partnered with the West Roxbury School Committee, with the genders separated into different departments.

In 1855, the Girls' Department, which was very popular, was moved to Village Hall where the city parking lot is behind Blanchard's. In 1858, the Boys' Department moved there as well, and the building at 24 Eliot Street was leased to the town for use as a primary school. In 1868, the Eliot High School moved to a new building on Elm Street on the site currently occupied by the old Jamaica Plain High School building. When the town of West Roxbury was annexed to the City of Boston in 1874, the trustees of the Eliot School terminated their connection to the high school and moved back to 24 Eliot Street.

In the 1870s and 1880s, the Eliot School began its "manual training" era. Gradually, classes like drawing, painting, sewing, and cooking were added. Stenography and typewriting were offered in 1887. The Eliot School provided these classes to public school students living in the area.

In 1905, the Eliot School's stated purpose was to "satisfy that instinctive desire of human beings to create," and they maintain that mission today through classes led by professional artists and master craftspeople in fine and applied arts to adults and children.