PATTERSON- Second graders at the Mathew Paterson Elementary School experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity Friday by attending class in an historic little red schoolhouse dating back to the mid-19th century.
The old wooden structure is located adjacent to the former Patterson Grade School which now serves as the Carmel School District’s Administration complex along South Street in the hamlet.
Seven and eight year-olds ventured across their school campus to visit the historic little red schoolhouse where local students in the late 1800s through 1927 were educated. The building was moved from its original location near the Thunder Ridge ski area in 1987.
The visit was a capstone to a final lesson on the history of the area.
Students had the opportunity to go inside the building, sit at the desks and take part in a lesson typical of the eras using small slate chalkboards. The students were quick to point out the many differences between their modern classrooms and the historic schoolhouse. The one-room schoolhouse featured a wood burning stove, chalkboards, a clock with roman numerals, historic pull-down maps and a dunce hat.
Boys and girls also participated in recess activities that were popular during the time: Jumping over a set of sticks in the lawn and tossing a hoop back and forth using sticks. While children in the 1800s used old skirt hoops, today’s students used modern-day hula hoops while testing their skills and having fun.
During the visit, Patricia Ploeger and Judy Kelley-Moberg from the Patterson Historical Society shared a wealth of information about the history of Patterson reminding the children that at the time the schoolhouse was used school was only in session for about 130 days. However, students typically attended far less.
As the students finished one of the final lessons of their 180- day school year, there was one last task to be done; pulling the rope to ring the schoolhouse bell marking the end of an educational and fun visit.
Pelletreau’s ‘History of Putnam County’ reports the Little Red Schoolhouse was the Union Free School District #2, located near Isaac Beaches, who lived near Birch Hill. It was originally painted white and was the last survivor of the eight original one-room schoolhouses in Patterson.
A news account from July, 1897, noted that a group of Roma had camped on the grounds of the school, to the delight of many of ‘our young women’ who had their fortunes told.
The Stephens family lived across Birch Hill Road from the Little Red Schoolhouse until 1927. Daniel Mallory Stephens served as Patterson Town Supervisor and New York State Assemblyman. His wife, Grace, taught in the Schoolhouse from the fall of 1914 to the spring of 1915, and earned $400 for that school year. The Stephens married in 1914, and the $400 was used to buy furniture for their new home. Since the schoolhouse had no running water, a pail of water would be brought from the Stephens home to the schoolhouse. The Stephens’ daughter attended classes at the Little Red Schoolhouse until 1927, when the family relocated to the Town of Southeast.
The Little Red Schoolhouse was last used as a school in 1929 when the population of Putnam County had grown to 15,000.
In the 1950s, the Schoolhouse was converted into a residence for the groundskeeper for the Birch Hill Ski Area. A fire caused heavy damage to the structure in the 1980s.
