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At the turn of the 20th century, horse-drawn wagons, called "barges," provided transportation to school for children living in out-lying areas of town, such as these children in Sunderland, Massachusetts. The barges have roll-up curtains like the trolley cars for use when it rained or snowed. Towns were beginning to consolidate their many widely scattered one-room schools into larger, graded schools in town centers. Many towns in New England continued to have one-room schools in remote areas well into the 20th century. Note many of the children carrying tin lunch pails. They lived too far from the school to walk home for lunch.

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