This paper examines the role of place in the reform efforts of two teachers who established Miss White's Home School in Concord, Massachusetts (USA). Flora and Mary White rebelled against the prevailing industrial model of instruction in tax-supported schools where they taught. As a solution, they moved to Concord--a nonconformist town with a literary and historical heritage--where they founded a private day and boarding school within the child-centred ideals of progressive education. Their experience, and the link between school and town, highlight the significance of the writing of Edward Casey, Doreen Massey, and bell hooks on the role of place in the search for identity and the relationship between place and home. (Contains 97 footnotes.)