Maine Industrial School for Girls

Maine Industrial School for Girls Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
c. 1900 postcard view of the school
Location	Winthrop St., 0.5 mi. W of jct. with Water St., Hallowell, Maine
Coordinates	44°17′31″N 69°47′50″W
Area	5.7 acres (2.3 ha)
Built	1898 (1898)
Built by	Thissel, J. & Sons; et.al.
Architectural style	Italian Villa, Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.	03000289
Added to NRHP	April 22, 2003

The Maine Industrial School for Girls, also once known as the Stevens School and the State School for Girls in Hallowell, is a former juvenile detention and education facility on Winthrop Street in Hallowell, Maine. The school operated from its founding in 1874 until the mid-1970s. Its campus, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, now houses a variety of state offices, and a state Department of Corrections pre-release center.

Description and history

The former Maine Industrial School for Girls campus is located just northwest of downtown Hallowell, on the north side of Winthrop Street. It occupies about 6 acres (2.4 ha), set on an east-facing hillside overlooking the downtown and the Kennebec River beyond. The campus buildings are generally rectangular brick structures, aligned with the long axis running north-south. They are organized around a central grassy area. The oldest surviving building, located near the southeastern edge of the campus, dates to 1898. The most prominent buildings are the former Central Building (1917–19) on the east side of the green, and Stevens Hall (1936–38) on the west side. Most of the buildings have some measure of Colonial Revival styling, although the 1898 Baker Building has an Italianate corbelled cornice. The 1905-06 Administration was designed by Lewiston architect William R. Miller.

The school was established by an act of the state legislature in 1874, as a place where "wayward girls" could be given a proper moral education, in a facility similar to one that had previously been established for boys. It was roughly modeled on the Lancaster Industrial School for Girls in Massachusetts. The school was at first considered to be a nominally secure educational facility or reform school, and not a correctional facility. This view evolved over time, and by the time of its closure in the 1970s it was viewed more as a penal institution.

The school's earliest buildings were either destroyed by fire or torn down. Following the school's closure, its buildings have generally been repurposed by the state to house offices of some of its departments. The campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Kennebec County, Maine