Historic Site #: | 01-081 (Gone) Type: E3 | Town: | Arcadia | ||
Site Name: | Arcadia District 16 Schoolhouse - Cull/Tack District | GPS Coordinates: | 0., 0. | ||
Address: | 3964 Route 88 North | ||||
Description: | |||||
Former student of the Brantling Hill Schoolhouse, Joyce De Rue, who worked at the Courier-Gazette Paper for over 20 years, is able to provide much insight into these schools specifically with regards to how they operated. In her article “Rural Schools - a Thing of the Past,” published in The Courier-Gazette, Joyce provides some general information for the Arcadia district schoolhouses Nos. 1-20, as well as some information about the Tack District school.1 Description written by John Trutt |
Historic narrative: | |||||
The Tack District, also known as Sodus Line School was closed and moved to Maple Ridge Road and then converted into a residence. Mrs.Harold (Dorothy) Catlin was the teacher there from 1931-1933. At one point it was “acted upon to revert the schoolhouse deed to Mrs. A.P. Cull, on whose property the building was located.” The residence was the home of Gerald Van-Hanegan for “many years” however, as of 1983 he no longer resided there.2 General schoolhouse information: Most children started school at age 5 and immediately entered first grade as there was no kindergarten in most rural schools. A grade typically ranged from 1 student to 4 or more. There were a variety of subjects taught at the schools including, “arithmetic, reading, writing, spelling, social studies, and other basic material … per the educational law.”3 When particular subjects were to be taught for specific grades. Students that were to take part were called to the front and students in other grades kept quiet and worked on other things in other parts of the room. Once a week, an afternoon would be dedicated to Bible studies with Miss Van Dusen. Miss Van Dusen used figures and a felt board depicting characters from different bible stories. She would also give out prizes occasionally for perfect attendance or for learning a specific number of verses from a book and chapter of the bible. There was also a recess period in which the students could play and eat. Each of the schools were heated by a wood or coal stove, which was the first thing the teacher would tend to when they arrived at the school. These stoves were also used to dry winter clothes. Book available from the Newark-Arcadia Historical Society: The Rural School Districts of Arcadia, A Pictorial History Compiled by Cynthia W. Russell, 2024. |