Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Fall 2019 | Page 15

TA TREASURE
There’s No Place
Like Home:
The History of the
Alumni House
T
Moses Emery, the original owner,
practiced law and exercised influence
in Maine politics. His wife, Sarah Cutts
Thornton, was the daughter of Thomas
Thornton, the school’s namesake. Their
son, George Addison Emery, grew up
in the house and eventually became
a longtime member of TA’s board of
trustees; he is also the namesake for
the original gymnasium on campus,
DID YOU KNOW?
Some believe there is a ghost
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House! Known as “Penelope”,
stories abound about her walk-
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attic window. Who is this ghost?
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thinks she may be Sarah Emery,
Moses Emery’s sister who died
in the house when she was 14.
which now houses the library, dance
studio, and classrooms. When the
Emery family occupied the house, it was
surrounded by farmland. Much of the
original structure’s architecture remains,
including special shutters on its first-
floor windows that could be closed
quickly from the inside as a protective
measure. The building’s age makes it
likely that the shutters were a purely
decorative detail, but they hearken
back to a time when tensions between
indiginous people and European settlers
ran high in the area.
In the late 1800s, the house was
purchased by the Tuxbury or
Tewskbury family. (Even though the
house was known by the name of this
family for many years, consensus on the
spelling of the name of the family does
not exist.) The Tuxbury family built
an addition on the back of the house,
including a large barn. At that time,
the school’s athletic fields were situated
across Main Street where the Saco Rite
Aid is currently located. During half-
time at football games, teams would
congregate in the Tuxbury House barn
to formulate a plan of attack for the
second half of the games.
Thornton Academy purchased the
property in the early 1900s and
converted it to a faculty residence
which originally housed two families:
one upstairs and one downstairs. Many
well-known TA teachers took advantage
of the on-campus housing, including
Dick Parker ’60. Parker and his family
lived on the first floor of the house from
August, 1968 until the mid-1970s. He
has many memories from his time in
the house—from the time Canadian
tourists stopped to eat tomatoes from
his family’s garden, to enjoying the
farmland and trees that once grew
where the arts wing was constructed.
He even fondly remembers painting
and renovating the house, though his
wife’s decision to discard the paper she
removed from the walls in the fireplace
came close to causing a fire at one point.
“She almost burned the place down!”
Parker reminisced.
hornton Academy’s campus has
seen its fair share of renovations
and additions. The Alumni
House, one of the school’s oldest
structures, has certainly been a part of
this tradition of repurposing buildings
to meet the needs of a changing school
community. Originally built by the
Emery family in the 1820s, the Alumni
House was initially used as a farmhouse,
but the property has also served as
faculty housing, a half-time huddle-
room for the football team,
and most recently, offices for faculty and
staff.
Left: A fall day on campus. Students walk past the Alumni House on their way
to and from class. Right: Anh Quynh (Madelin) Nguyen ’20 poses for a quick
picture on the Alumni House porch.
Thornton Academy continued to grow
and eventually more classroom space
was needed. In 1998, the business and
alumni offices were moved to what
had previously been faculty housing,
earning the property its current name:
the Alumni House. Though its purpose
has remained as an office building
for more than 20 years, it retains the
charm and spirit of almost 200 years
of lived experiences. Its halls are lined
with old photographs and new student
artwork, and its offices overflow with
conversations and collaborations all
meant to enhance the experience of
TA students. While we can’t know
how Trojans of the future will use this
space, we can honor its history by
remembering the people who have lived
and worked within its walls.
Story by Katy Nicketakis · Photos Courtesy of Ayanah Proulx
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