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Sodus District 4 Schoolhouse aka Old Sodus Academy, Brick High School, High School
| Historic Site #: | 12-097 (Gone) Type: D,E3 | Town: | Sodus | ||
| Site Name: | Sodus District 4 Schoolhouse aka Old Sodus Academy, Brick High School, High School | GPS Coordinates: | 43.23591, -77.06849 | ||
| Address: | 87 West Main Street Sodus New York NE corner Belden & Ridge, W.of Church | ||||
| Description: | |||||
| From 1853 - 1950 this was the site of the Old Sodus Academy, the Brick Sodus High School and then the Sodus High School. In 1951, the new Sodus High School was erected at its present location at 54 Mill Street. Nowadays the original site is occupied by the Dynalec Corporation. According to NYGEN, schooling began in 1812 and this multi room school closed in 1950. | |||||
| 🔊Audio: Tour Sound Bite |
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| Old Sodus Academy photo courtesy of Bette Bugni | The Brick Sodus High School photo courtesy of Bette Bugni |
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| Sodus High School 1925 – 1950. Later the building would become Dynalec. Photo courtesy Bette Bugni. | Dynalec Corporation present day. Photo from google maps |
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| 1928 Girl's County Basketball Champs. Photo courtesy of Bette Bugni |
| Historic narrative: | |||||
Old Sodus Academy Story However, the people of Sodus, prior to the academy law passed by the State, considered founding an academy in Sodus and held their first meeting February 3, 1852, and the resolutions providing for the formation of an academy association were adopted February 28, 1852. The first trustees were: Michael O’Keefe, Jerry C. Rogers, John White, Miles L. Landon, Dennis Lefurgey, Jesse H. Green, Anson Proseus, Lewis H. Clark, William Sergeant, Enoch Granger, Silas P. Hulett and Andrew C. Williams. The site for the proposed institution, on the lot on the south side of Ridge Road near the westerly end of Sodus Village and between what are now Carlton Street and Elmwood Avenue, was chosen April 30, 1852, and was purchased from Silas P. Hulett. The erection of the building was delayed until the summer of 1853. It was finally completed on the 18th day of October that year. In the autumn of 1854, the sum for the necessary library and equipment was raised, and the Board of Regents incorporated it as an endowment academy January 11, 1855. In the winter of 1858-1859, a subscription of $800. was obtained to meet the liabilities of the institution.The Sodus Academy continued in existence until 1902. During this time, a two-room public school located on School Street, which was a grade school only, and was known as the “District School”, was operated by Sodus District No. 4. This was the only free school in the Village, a charge for tuition being made at Sodus Academy. In 1901, it was decided that there should be a free school for both grade and high school students operated by the district.Brick Sodus High School Story The School Street School and the Academy were discontinued and in 1902, a new brick building was built by District No. 4 on the site of the Sodus Academy building. The Academy was a two-story frame building standing on a high wall farther back from the street and was used by the district during the time that the 1902 brick building was under construction. The large hand-hewn beams from the old Sodus Academy Building are in the Furniture Store and Funeral Home Building now owned by H. S. Norton.By 1918, the school had become overcrowded and from the fall of 1919 through the spring of 1922, the first and second grades were housed in what is now the Community House. In June 1922, the District purchased the lot at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and West Main Street, and in October 1922, the District purchased the lot at the corner of Carlton and West Main Streets on which stood a frame house. This house was used for the first and second grades for three years.Sodus High School Story In 1925 the school building was partially razed, remodeled, and greatly enlarged. During this process, from April 1914 to September 1925, all of the grade and high school pupils were housed in the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches. The resulting structure was first occupied in the fall of 1925 and continued in use until the fall of 1950, housing all of the grades and high school except for the school years beginning in the fall of 1944 when the kindergarten, first and part of the second, grades were housed in the basement of the Presbyterian church.In 1925 the State Legislature passed a Central School Law which permitted common school districts and/or Union Free Districts to combine in order to provide for better educational opportunity through increased facilities. Many of the various Towns in Wayne County took advantage of the Central School Law and centralized during the 1930s. Under District Superintendent Lewis H. Clark, and John A. DePoint, President of the Board of Education of Sodus High, an attempt was made to centralize school districts in Sodus in 1938, but little interest was shown on the part of the people at that time.In the fall of 1943 District Superintendent F. S. Hungerford organized a lay committee in Sodus composed of the following people: Marcus Buckman, Morris Buerman, Edward E. Burns, Morris Butts, Eugene Cook, Harold Dye, Mrs. Murray Featherly, Martin Foss, Granger Green, Norman R. Kelley, Dr. F. Linwood Myers, Roy Palmer and Claude Yeomans. Information and data concerning the proposed Sodus Central School was presented to voters at School District meetings during the winter of 1943-44. On June 14, 1944 a centralization vote was held in the high school building at Sodus, and Sodus Central School District No. 1 became a reality by a vote of 540 to 62. All of the districts in the township became part of centralization with the exceptions of Nos. 10, 16, 21 and a portion of 17. The members elected to the original Board of Education were: Dr. F. L. Myers, Eugene Cook, Edward Hoste, Edward Burns, and Morris Butts. Immediately plans were made to construct a school building to house all of the pupils in the new central district. On July 23, 1948 bonds were approved at a district meeting; and, with the official approval of State Education Department through the office of District Superintendent Morris J. Livingston, the new building was started in August 1948. The cornerstone-laying ceremonies were held May 27, 1949, and in September 1950, the kindergarten and first six grades occupied the building for the first time, but the upper six grades were unable to move in until Thanksgiving time. The realization of a long-awaited educational milestone in the township was celebrated at the formal dedication ceremony January 26, 1951.Bill Kallusch Jr. told us a humorous story about this school. He remembers when some boys put dead carp in the air ducts of the school in August before the school was to open. This delayed the opening of school until the carp were removed and the smell dissipated. To the many schools which have come and gone, to the forward- looking people who through the years have given their support, to the teachers, trustees, and school board members who have managed and developed our schools, and lastly, to the progressive idealism, conscientious work, faithful efforts, and sacrifices of all – this building is indeed a true memorial.As stated above, with the centralization of Town of Sodus schools into the high school and grade schools into Sodus, 1950 saw the end of the remaining one and two room schools outside of the village of Sodus.A poignant poem done by the students of the class of 1979 talks about the sadness of closing down a schoolhouse and moving to a new one: First Central School To Lose a Friend is Sad 1950 - moving day, How I remember good. The old schoolhouse we had, Well, cripes, it hardly stood. It sprinkled; then it rained. The drops began to pour. Through it all we moved a ton Of books (and maybe more). Weak boards in the upstairs hall, Clumps of dropping plaster, Urged on by Mr. Hungerford, We moved all the faster. That day I'll never forget; I couldn't if I tried. That rainy, moody day that Our Main Street schoolhouse died. District #4 Sodus Teachers 1812
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Town of Sodus Historical Society History of Education web page
Poem from Bicentennial Tour 1976 A Project of the Class of 1979 Sodus Central School Page 9
NYGEN Town of Sodus Teachers web page