Picture Vernon: School Distancing, Circa 1900

VERNON, CT — The latest installment of the Picture Vernon series takes us back to 1900 and a desk at the "Polliwog School."

According to the Vernon Historical Society, the school was formally named The North East District School when it opened on Hale Road in 1870.

After a while the school was nicknamed the "Polliwog School," because students would gather polliwogs from a nearby stream and place them in aquariums until they hatched into frogs.

The desk and chair from about 1900 were designed to be linked together to establish a row for students.

School desks and chairs look at bit different today:

Vernon Public Schools

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Picture Vernon is a periodic series that examines at images of the town, past and present.