Canaan Union Academy

Canaan Union Academy was a whites-only school established in 1839 in Canaan, New Hampshire, after a mob of segregationists and anti-abolitionists destroyed the integrated Noyes Academy in 1835.[1] After about twenty years as a school, the building was abandoned until at least 1886, falling into disrepair.[2] Canaan Union Academy was eventually reestablished, and continued in operation until 1892.[3]

In 1903, the residents of the Town of Canaan voted to spend $100 (equivalent to $3,400 in 2023) to convert the Academy building into a library. The building was the location for the Canaan Town Library from 1904 until 1978.[4] The Canaan Historical Museum began sharing the building with the library in 1961. When the library moved to the larger Canaan Community Building in 1978, the Canaan Historical Society and Museum took sole responsibility for the Academy building.[3]

The building features a two-story porch and open belfry topped by a low pyramidal roof.[3] It is part of the Canaan Street Historic District.[5]

  1. ^ Wallace, William Allen (1910). The history of Canaan, New Hampshire. The Rumford press. p. 304 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Gazetteer of Grafton County, N. Syracuse Journal Company, Printers. 1886. p. 234.
  3. ^ a b c "Canaan Academy Building (1839) - Education - Canaan St, Canaan, New Hampshire". www.communitywalk.com.
  4. ^ "Long Range Plan - Canaan Town Library" (PDF). canaanlibrary.org. Canaan Town Library. November 30, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  5. ^ Mrs. Goodhue Crocker; Mrs. Norman C. Wakely (January 22, 1971). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Canaan Street Historic District / Broad Street". National Park Service. Retrieved May 14, 2018. With accompanying 10 photos from 1971 (#7 shows the Canaan Union Academy)