Its Place in the History and Culture of AHS

Naomi Bloom
MANAGING EDITOR

Rows of desks along a dirt floor. Cement pillars and ceilings. The names of former students litter the walls, and there are scattered cans of shaving cream in the dust, with the occasional rat scurrying past. When one thinks of Andover High School, they would never conjure up that image. But it exists in the school.

For as long as AHS has been around, so have stories of the Dirt Room. While the majority of those stories and rumors are not true, many still believe that the Dirt Room is a large part of AHS history and culture.

For those who don’t know, the Dirt Room is a room that lives up to its name. It is full of dirt in a tucked-away area of the school. It does not have much use, aside from being a storage space, and it is off-limits to students. 

“It has no real purpose,” said media specialist and librarian John Berube. “On the original plans it is described as ‘unexcavated space’.” 

An AHS alumni from the class of 2021, Noct Caruso, recalled their first time going to the Dirt Room: “I remember it just being kind of unreal to be in. It didn’t feel man made, like nature had just summoned itself in that room.”

Berube added that across a small hill of dirt where the floor dips, there is even a door with a room number. However, the lights are not in an easily-accessible spot, according to AHS science teacher Ralph Bledsoe. “All it is is a dark room if you don’t get the lights on,” he said.

Bledsoe was surprised that so many students are aware of the Dirt Room. “I don’t even know how kids found out about the place,” he said. “The first time I went looking was because people were talking about it. It’s not on your walking path, it’s way out of the way, so you literally have to go searching and have someone show you how to get there.” Despite that, the Dirt Room has continued to draw in students, year after year, through its stories, or simply the appeal of going somewhere that is not supposed to be explored. 

“Actually, I’m surprised that it’s gone on as long as it has,” said Scott Worthley, the manager of the Collins Center. “Every year, students come up to me and ask me about the Dirt Room.” 

Students often become curious about it due to the various rumors that circulate. All of those interviewed mentioned the story about the Dirt Room being an unfinished pool, and some recalled even taller tales. “One of the wildest things [I’ve heard] is that someone was buried in there and they couldn’t replace it because the process of getting the body exhumed, identified, and moved was too expensive,” said Caruso. “I first heard part of it in eighth grade from seniors who had given us tours of the building.”

Due to these mysteries behind the Dirt Room, it has become a large part of AHS’s history and culture. “Those rumors that come out of them make the spirit of the school more inviting,” said Caruso. “[They] make the culture of any school, because most teenagers live on some variation of rumors, mythos, and drama in their environment.” Bobby Hawes, AHS Technical Theater teacher, agreed and said that it was a significant part of AHS in his high school experience as well, having graduated in 2012.

But, students typically are not allowed to go to the Dirt Room unsupervised. Bledsoe and Worthley explained that this is partially due to the fact that it is used as a storage space, as well as because to get there, one would have to pass through more storage areas. “We don’t want any of it to go missing… all the extra vacuums, lightbulbs, batteries, anything,” said Bledsoe. Worthley added that the TV studio uses it for storage as well, leaving an assortment of their old supplies there. 

Along with that issue, the Dirt Room is not the safest. “It’s dirt and it has random stuff; you don’t know who’s gonna trip and fall,” said Bledsoe. Hawes also said that the Dirt Room has some “treacherous footfalls,” but thinks that with permission and staff supervision, it is safer.

Due to the potential injury that the Dirt Room could result in, its entrances are locked. Worthley said that because students have still tried to sneak in, the administration has been “cracking down” on securing the Dirt Room more than they did so in prior years.

Bledsoe said that it made sense why the administration would want to keep students out. However, he understood the draw of it to students: “Everybody wants to search every nook and cranny of every place they go,” he noted. “That’s just what you do.”