Drury High School
The idea for Drury Academy began in the 1830’s. Dr. Elihu S. Hawkes was a local physician, and he and his partner, Dr. Isaac Hodges, recognized that the growing town of North Adams needed a formal place of higher education. They received funding for the school from one of Dr. Hawkes patients, Nathan Drury, whom the school is named after. They purchased some land on a hill overlooking downtown North Adams and cleared the land to build the school, which included cutting a hill down 17 feet. The origional building had Italianate architecture and a clocktower.
In the 1860’s the building was growing too small for the population. At this time ownership was given to the town and the building was torn down and a bigger one was built. The new four story building had thirteen classrooms and an auditorium. It opened in 1865, and in 1879 and addition was built onto the back that included five classrooms and two recitation rooms.
In 1912 the city built an additional, larger building and turned Drury Academy into Drury High School. The building that was currently there was modified into a gymnasuim for the new building. The first class to graduate from the city's first high school was in 1917. This building still stands today and is home to Colegrove Park Elementary School.