In 1894 there were 16 grammar schools in Cumberland! Then in the early 1920’s the town took delivery of two school buses, which led to the closing of the one room school houses and the building of larger schools. The buses were trucks adapted for school use. One had been confiscated from rum runners in
Tiverton and still had a bullet hole in the driver’s door!
Source: Cumberland by the Blackstone
by David W. Balfour and Joyce Hindle Koutsogiane
Before the current Town Hall was built in 1894, the village of Cumberland Hill served as the seat of the town government. Residents would argue as to whose home would have the honor of hosting the town meeting.
These places were selected by lot until the seat of government changed to the village of Valley Falls and a
permanent Town Hall was constructed.
Imagine hosting a Town Council meeting in your home in this day and age!
Source Cumberland by the Blackstone, c1997
by David Balfour and Joyce Hindle Koutsogiane
March 21, 2010 marked the 60th anniversary of the Monastery Fire. The fire was discovered under the stairway in the Guest House, one of the first buildings completed on the Monastery Grounds. Ironically, this building was scheduled to be replaced in future expansions. As it was mostly made of dry wood, the fire spread quickly. Winds carried sparks to the roof of the church which quickly became engulfed. The fire spread through the interior of the church, burning the wooden pews and rood screen. All 140 monks and guests escaped the fire, but it burned too quickly to save the building or the church. The cost of the fire was estimated at 2 million dollars in 1950’s money! The monks decided to move their home to Spencer, Massachusetts where they had purchased property for a second community. The monastery buildings in Cumberland were sold to the Grey Friars.
The large granite building housing part of the library was once a Trappist Monastery. The monks of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance began building here in 1900. They were a silent order, but visitors could speak to the monk in the Porter’s Lodge and purchase bread and Trappist jam. They were self sustaining, growing their own food and quarrying the granite for the many buildings.
The monastery continued to expand until 1950 when a fire burned not only the Guest House, but the roof and
interior of the church as well. The order had already purchased land in Spencer, Massachusetts to create a
second monastery when the fire destroyed the church so they decided to move there instead and they remain there to this day.
The Town of Cumberland purchased the property from the Grey Friars and used the building to combine three small libraries into the Cumberland Public Library we have today. For more information visit our Monastery History page.