"In 1952, Town Meeting unanimously voted to purchase, or take by right of eminent domain, five parcels of land and their structures to enable the Town to build a new senior high school on Main Street, adjacent to the high school. The cost of the five parcels was reported to be $67,500. The owners were listed as Mildred Hawkes, Marjorie Cook, John Marshall, Jennie Willey, and Edna Brown. One house was later moved to the corner of Park Avenue and Prospect Street. The 1952 meeting lasted over three hours, with several votes taken during the evening. One article that was soundly defeated was to put an addition on the existing building to the west. Another defeated article included the building of a senior high school at the site of the Town Farm, (the current location of Wakefield High School). The 940 voters also voted to establish a 6-3-3 (elementary-junior high school- high school) school system. Initial plans also included the junior high school moving into the former high school building, later named the Willard B. Atwell School. The total to build a new school, with the purchase of the land, was said to be $2,130,500. The new high school opened in 1955 and is now the Galvin Middle School, with the exception of the Atwell wing of the school." Image from the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department annual calendar, 2012 Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Daily Item.
