Thornton Academy - Current Campus

Current Campus

In 1886 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land were purchased by the board at the corner of Main Street and Fairfield Street in Saco as the future site of Thornton Academy. On July 27, 1886, Thornton Academy became a legal corporation. The plans for the new school building were designed by H. G. Wadlin. It officially re-opened on September 6, 1889 and began its school year three days later with a class of 108 students. Today the original building is referred to as the Main Building.

Over the course of the next fifty years, several buildings were added to the grounds: the Charles Cutts Gookin Thornton Building in 1903, the headmaster's home in 1905, the George Addison Emery Gymnasium in 1913, and the Main Building Annex in 1931. Starting in the late 1950s and continuing to the early '70s, additional buildings were added because of enrollment increases related to the post-WWII baby boom: the John S. Locke Building, the William Linnell Gymnasium, the Edith Scamman Science Building, and an Industrial Arts Building. In 1996, 54,000 square feet were added, linking the Main Building with the Scamman Science Building,and adding the Mary Hyde Library, the Helen Atkinson Dining Commons, the Harry Garland Auditorium,six arts classrooms and six math classrooms. Because the Academy has grown to nearly 80 acres (32 ha) and the buildings listed, it more resembles a university campus than a traditional American high school.