Berwick Academy was founded in 1791 when citizens of Berwick, York, and Wells (then villages in the District of Maine within the recently founded state of Massachusetts) raised $500 to teach languages, liberal arts and sciences to "the youth in this part of the country."
 Chartered by Massachusetts Governor John Hancock later that year and armed with a classical educational mission, the school opened in a small hip-roofed Georgian building on land donated by Judge Benjamin Chadbournes.
 Today known as The 1791 House, the building was relocated to the current campus in 1971 and is the oldest school structure in the United States still utilized today.

From its founding the school contracted with the town of South Berwick to educate local students, serving both as a private college preparatory school and the de facto local public.
 As the town grew and industrialized, the school's dual role necessitated campus expansion.
A new Academy building was built in 1830, and destroyed by fire in 1851.
 Its successor, designed by architect Richard Upjohn, was superseded by the William Hayes Fogg Memorial Building in 1894.
Designed by George Albert Clough in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted, and built complete with electricity and state-of-the-art science labs, it remains a focal point of the modern campus, housing the majority of Upper School history, English, and foreign language classrooms.

In 1955, the contract with South Berwick terminated and the school reverted to a purely private "prep school," featuring boarding for boys, a day department for girls, and college preparation on a classical model for both.
 Considerable physical expansion during this period included the acquisitions of surrounding homes for dormitories and of adjacent lands for playing fields.

In the 1970s, the burdensome cost of housing students and the increasing suburbanization of northern New England resulted in a further transformation from boarding academy to country day school.
 A Middle School was founded in 1971 and a Lower School in 1977; boarding was discontinued in 1976 and the dormitory-homes sold or converted to educational uses.
In the subsequent decades the school's enrollment, endowment, and physical plant have steadily increased, with the addition of Jackson Library, the Jeppesen Science and Math center, the Baldwin Arts Center, and a sports complex, among other facilities.
 The school has come to occupy a unique academic position in between the 18th century American college preparatory school and the 19th Century progressive country day school.
In 2017 it was announced that the school would begin a small residential program, beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.
Berwick Academy was founded in 1791 when citizens of Berwick, York, and Wells (then villages in the District of Maine within the recently founded state of Massachusetts) raised $500 to teach languages, liberal arts and sciences to "the youth in this part of the country."  Chartered by Massachusetts Governor John Hancock later that year and armed with a classical educational mission, the school opened in a small hip-roofed Georgian building on land donated by Judge Benjamin Chadbournes.  Today known as The 1791 House, the building was relocated to the current campus in 1971 and is the oldest school structure in the United States still utilized today.
From its founding the school contracted with the town of South Berwick to educate local students, serving both as a private college preparatory school and the de facto local public.  As the town grew and industrialized, the school's dual role necessitated campus expansion. A new Academy building was built in 1830, and destroyed by fire in 1851.  Its successor, designed by architect Richard Upjohn, was superseded by the William Hayes Fogg Memorial Building in 1894. Designed by George Albert Clough in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted, and built complete with electricity and state-of-the-art science labs, it remains a focal point of the modern campus, housing the majority of Upper School history, English, and foreign language classrooms.
In 1955, the contract with South Berwick terminated and the school reverted to a purely private "prep school," featuring boarding for boys, a day department for girls, and college preparation on a classical model for both.  Considerable physical expansion during this period included the acquisitions of surrounding homes for dormitories and of adjacent lands for playing fields.
In the 1970s, the burdensome cost of housing students and the increasing suburbanization of northern New England resulted in a further transformation from boarding academy to country day school.  A Middle School was founded in 1971 and a Lower School in 1977; boarding was discontinued in 1976 and the dormitory-homes sold or converted to educational uses. In the subsequent decades the school's enrollment, endowment, and physical plant have steadily increased, with the addition of Jackson Library, the Jeppesen Science and Math center, the Baldwin Arts Center, and a sports complex, among other facilities.  The school has come to occupy a unique academic position in between the 18th century American college preparatory school and the 19th Century progressive country day school. In 2017 it was announced that the school would begin a small residential program, beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.
Berwick Academy (Maine)