New roof for the Little Red Schoolhouse

From the Webster-Dudley Historical Society

More photos follow

If you have driven up School Street recently, you may have noticed construction being done on the Little Red Schoolhouse. Thanks to a generous $15,000 donation from the Janet Malser Humanities Trust, much needed and long-overdue repairs were able to be made to the roof of this historic building. Three W Construction and Development Co., Thompson, CT removed all of the roof to the hand hewed log rafters and added new 2 by 10 rafters. Before resheathing the roof, 3 W attached the new rafters to the older logs and the existing interior ceiling. R-19 fiberglass insulation was added along with two 20 amp electric wires (for future use).

The roof was shingled with 30 year shingles and trim covered with barn red aluminum. Soffit and ridge vents were added to aid with moisture removal. The pantry flat roof was also resheathed, and a new membrane was installed.

The Malser Trust encourages the restoration and preservation of historic sites of which the Little Red Schoolhouse is one. It was placed on the Registry’s List of Historical Places on January 9, 1991. The building houses historic documents and artifacts of great significance in the early years of Webster and Dudley. These repairs and renovations will protect the safety of these treasures.

The Webster-Dudley Historical Society gratefully acknowledges this grant from the Janet Malser Humanities Trust Fund and also thanks the Trust for its generosity. This funding will greatly help to preserve the integrity of the Little Red Schoolhouse so that it may be enjoyed by the general public of the surrounding areas for generations to come.

The WDHS would also like to thank Three W Construction and Development Company for their excellent work and for being able to accommodate our needs while staying within the $15,000 budget.