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This mansard roof house on a knoll, surrounded by a white wooden fence, is now the site of the former Jefferson Avenue School, which opened in 1909. The former school is now called ‘The Jefferson’ and is an upscale condominium.

William and Mary Grundy, and their children Joseph and Margaret, moved to Bristol in 1877 and occupied the house when William Grundy started the Watershed Mill on Jefferson Avenue and Canal Street. The last known family to live in the house was John and Elizabeth Smiley, and their children. It was also owned by Joseph Peirce who started the Bristol Improvement Company and erected the Grundy Mill building.

Florence C. Smiley Foster, one of ten children of John and Elizabeth Smiley, described the appearance of the house in a paper she wrote about her family history. She stated that it had 21 rooms seven per floor. There was a large front porch and balconies on the second and third floors. It had a bathroom and a tank on the top floor in what was called the tank room for bath water. Her father would pump water weekly to the tank from the cellar. The fenced yard was large especially the front. There were beautiful, blooming lilacs and azaleas. Her father grew lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes in the backyard and shared them with neighbors. He also put baskets on a tree branch for boys to play basketball.

Mr. Peirce, the owner, wanted the Smiley family to buy the house because Joseph Grundy wanted to purchase it, tear it down, and have a public school built there. The Smiley family did not have the amount of money to purchase it. They then moved to Lafayette Street. Joseph Grundy purchased it, had it torn down, and donated the land for the building of Jefferson Avenue School which opened in 1909.

Undated

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