Description of Historic Place

Doaktown's First School is an early 19th-century New Brunswick one room school located on the Doak House Provincial Historic Site. It is situated on the south side of Main Street in the Village of Doaktown.

Heritage Value

Doaktown's First School is valued as an excellent example of an early education facility in rural New Brunswick during the early 19th century. This school, believed to have been constructed in 1822, served the children of early immigrant settlers. The building is also valued for its interior layout. Windows are located on one wall allowing midday sunlight to enter the room, with the opposite wall offering a blackboard and teaching area. The uniqueness of the layout for the era is also apparent in that the lavatory facilities are contained within the building and are partitioned on the west end. This school was closed in later years due to a growing population that required a larger building to house the students. The Central Miramichi Historical Society moved the building to its present location at the Doak House Provincial Historic Site in 1996.

Source: Village of Doaktown, Village Office, Historic Places Site File #08-14

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements relating to the vernacular architecture of this utilitarian building include:
- rectangular single-storey form and massing of typical 19th-century vernacular rural school architecture;
- medium pitched gable roof;
- offset entrance;
- wooden shingle cladding.

The character-defining elements relating to the interior of the school include:
- spatial configuration;
- absence of windows on three walls of classroom;
- partitioned lavatory accommodating two seats;
- “1822” inscribed on interior wall.