 The town of Shrewsbury, incorporated in 1727, established a district school system in about 1742, and had seven districts by 1792.The present district 5 schoolhouse was built in 1828 on land purchased from Orville Lothrop, whose farmhouse still stands to the northwest across Main Street.The school was funded and maintained by district residents until the state abolished the district system in 1869, after which the school (like the town's other district schools) was taken over by the town.