Our history: supporting exceptional students and families

As a founder of the Good Will Institute in Nashua, Reverend George W. Buzzell received a gift of the 100-acre Roberts Farm, the original home of Mrs. Colby, Daniel Webster’s sister. He established a cottage method of homing there in 1901 and this farm became known as the Bradley Memorial Home. In 1914, the Bradley Memorial Home was joined to the Golden Rule Homestead, increasing its size to 400 acres in the Pemigewasset Valley between Hill and Franklin. The resulting organization was called the Golden Rule Farm and was known as “New England’s Own Boystown” serving boys from inadequate homes. Over the next decade, the need for orphanages was eclipsed by the need for a corrective setting for urban children, who at this time were sent to prisons and reformatories. Thus, the Golden Rule Farm made a transition from cottage care to rehabilitative care.

When the Franklin Falls Dam was built in 1939, the Golden Rule Farm was forced to move and the Boynton and Holquist Farms in Northfield were purchased as a new home.

Later, “the top of the hill” along with a mansion were added to the farm. The original building was destroyed by fire and only the flag pole survived. The flag pole still proudly stands behind the Spaulding Community Center, which was originally built as the Pangburn School on the same site.