Fairhaven Oxford School Cupola Returns to Its Rightful Place

If you were driving on Bridge Street or Alden Road in Fairhaven this weekend you may have seen a unique sight.

The photo above was snapped in front of the Pasta House at 9:12 on Saturday morning.

Fairhaven Police and staff from Nick's Services Electrical and Home Improvement Contractors in Fairhaven were escorting a large cupola through the town.

Sergeant Timothy Souza from the Fairhaven Police Department told us that they received a call Saturday morning from Fairhaven Selectman Keith Silvia looking for assistance in returning the cupola back to its original location.

If the cupola looks familiar to you, but you can't quite place where you've seen it, it normally sits atop the Oxford School in North Fairhaven.

We spoke with Fairhaven Selectman Keith Silvia, who led the charge to refinish the cupola with a team of other people. Souza wasted no time getting the cupola back onto the roof of the Oxford School. After four years of being absent from the top of the school, It was installed by the end of Saturday afternoon. Silvia said he would have liked to have publicized the replacement, but he feared that too many people would show up and risk spreading COVID-19.

Governor Baker announced this past fall that plans to renovate the school into affordable senior housing would be supported by state and federal tax credits. The original structure will be turned into 10 units, while 44 additional units will be built on the property.

The school was last used by students and teachers of the Wood School in Fairhaven during the 2012-13 academic year. After addressing a mold problem in the building, the Wood School community used the Oxford School temporarily while the new Wood School was being constructed.

According to Fairhaven's Millicent Library website, the Oxford School was built back in 1896 by New Bedford contractors for just over $12,000. Additional classrooms were added on after the turn of the century to accommodate Fairhaven's growing population. Another addition followed in 1951.