George Stevens Academy

The parent-school of George Stevens Academy was Blue Hill Academy, the seventh such institution in the District of Maine and the first in Hancock County. In 1803, John Peters, a surveyor and large landowner, rode on horseback to Boston and presented to the General Court of Massachusetts a request for the incorporation of an academy. His request was granted; he returned home in triumph; a building was constructed in the village; students were enrolled the spring of 1803. The wheels of education turned with rapidity.

The Academy soon employed a preceptor and two teachers. Its course of study included Greek, Latin and navigation. The last was a practical and popular subject for native young men who went fishing on the Grand Banks; who sailed on coasting schooners; who, as deep-water sailors, voyaged to the Indies, to Europe and China. There were four terms of school each year. Young men and women from nearby towns attended Blue Hill Academy and boarded in the homes of local families.