OXFORD — The latest – and final for this year – phase of Pigeon Hill Schoolhouse’s ongoing rehabilitation was completed last week. It took just a couple of days for Norway-based contractor Paramount Construction shored up the school’s old roof sheathing with plywood and installed historically accurate cedar shakes roofing.

Just in time for winter, Pigeon Hill Schoolhouse located at the corner of King Street and Royal Shores Lane in Oxford, has a cedar shakes roof, just as it did when it was originally built back in 1867. Supplied photo

“They feel the structure will be stronger if they leave the old boards,” Oxford Historical Society President Patricia Larrivee said as the crew hammered away Friday.  “And they’re laying ice and water shield over the plywood.”

OHS custom-ordered matching cedar roofing and siding from Granville Wood Products in Granville, Vermont.

Hancock Lumber’s Bridgton store donated materials to replicate the school’s original soffit trim. Flooring was donated by Maschino & Sons Lumber Co. in Gray.

This winter the school’s windows will remain boarded over to protect them from the elements. Next spring the glass panes will be removed and refitted into new sashes. After the windows, trim and doorframes are installed the new cedar siding will be added.

Larrivee said the restored Dry Mills Schoolhouse near the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray closely resembles the Pigeon Hill school’s original interior wainscoting and plaster and is being used as a guide for its restoration.

The Dry Mills school also has a compact, antique wood stove as part of its exhibit. So, while the Pigeon Hill school will not be heated, to represent how its 19^th-century students stayed warm during the day, OHS is on the lookout for a small antique woodstove similar to the one in Gray.

Built in 1867, children living in the Pigeon Hill neighborhood of Oxford were educated at the school until it closed in about 1940. In 1951 the building was sold to the late Everett Thurlow, a prior student, who lived and farmed and the surrounding land. Among Thurlow’s final wishes was that it be donated to OHS. It was transferred to the society after the property was sold by his heirs in 2022.

Josh Pruett of Paramount Construction talks about growing up in the King Street neighborhood of Oxford, where the Pigeon Hill Schoolhouse is being restored as a living history museum. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

To date OHS has expended $42,000, acquired through donations and historic preservation grants, to move and rehabilitate the old school to its current state. The goal is to restore the old school into a living history museum.

It will participate with several other schools throughout Maine, including the Dry Mills School and Harrison’s Maple Ridge Schoolhouse, as part of a driving tour program.

Pausing restoration over the winter will give OHS chance to focus on fundraising and obtaining more historic preservation grants. Individuals and businesses may contribute through its Venmo account at: https://venmo.com/u/Oxford-HistoricalSociety. Anyone wishing to volunteer time or materials to the project should contact Larrivee at oxfordhistoricsocietykayhouse@gmail.com.