The Red Brick School House
In 2019, ALARM Robotics set up shop in the Red Brick Schoolhouse in Franklin, Massachusetts. Built in 1833 to replace a wooden schoolhouse, the building takes its name from its distinctive red-brick exterior. The bricks were brought from Boston by oxen.
Written by, Claire Payne
February, 2025
2011, Robert Magina, Flickr
1941, Library of Congress
The original wooden schoolhouse was built after Reverend Nathanael Emmons took a 900-year lease on the land, which later came under town control. Known as “the school at the crossroad,” it stood at Maple Street and Main Street, now Lincoln Street. The building also served as a children’s Sunday school for Emmons’ Congregational church.
By 1835, Mortimer Blake was using the building to run a high school. Demand grew so strong that the school moved to larger premises, despite weekly tuition of 25–35 cents. During the Great Depression (1929–1939), administrators tried to close the school to reduce costs, but Franklin residents opposed the plan. In 1959, the building was declared unsafe and again faced closure. Residents funded repairs through donations and sales of six-inch ceramic tiles depicting the school and its history. In 1976, the Red Brick School was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
After 175 years of regular use, the Red Brick Schoolhouse was declared surplus by the Franklin School Department in 2008. The building had served as a public kindergarten, but the town no longer needed the one-room schoolhouse to accommodate its students. The school committee voted to close it and transfer control to the town. It later became part of the educational offerings of the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School before ALARM Robotics moved in. Today, the team continues the building’s tradition of public education through outreach events that introduce young people to robotics and coding.
References
Red Brick School (Massachusetts) — Wikipedia. Accessed February 11, 2025.
Timeline of Franklin History — Franklin Historical Museum. Originally accessed February 11, 2025.
The Franklin Public Library
The ALARM Robotics team often works with the Amazing staff of the Franklin Public Library to host events and do community outreach at the library.
Written by, Claire Payne
February, 2025
The Franklin Public Library, Jan. 19, 2023. Daily News And Wicked Local Staff Photo/Art lllman
The Franklin Public Library traces its roots to the town’s incorporation in 1778. The proposed name, Exeter, was changed to Franklin in honor of Benjamin Franklin. The town asked him to donate a bell for its church steeple. Believing that “sense” was preferable to “sound,” he offered books instead. With help from Dr. Richard Price, Franklin sent 116 volumes on subjects including government, philosophy, and religion. Their arrival prompted debate over who should be allowed to use them. On November 20, 1790, a town meeting voted to lend the books to all Franklin residents free of charge, establishing what is considered America’s first public library.
The books were initially stored in Franklin’s meeting house. In 1904, the Ray Memorial Building was dedicated, giving the library a permanent home donated by the Ray family. The family also established a fund to maintain it. The Franklin Library Association operated the library until 1981, when it became a town department. Restoration work from 1987 to 1989 preserved the classical Greek building and added a children’s wing. The original Franklin collection is still housed in the library’s Reading Gallery.
References
It Happens Here: Franklin, the Home of the First Public Library in America — CBS News, 2021.
Franklin Public Library — Atlas Obscura.
Library History — Town of Franklin, Massachusetts.
Sources originally accessed February 11, 2025.