Program

NYS Historic, Pomeroy Education Program

Subject

Education, Site

Location

928 US-44, Arlington, NY 12603, USA

Lat/Long

41.70887, -73.86671

Grant Recipient

Arlington High School

As early as 1850 a school was labeled on a map of Dutchess County, published by J.C. Sidney. On the map, all the surrounding land is labeled as owned by various Barnes family members. Buildings were labeled with “D. Barnes”, “J. Barnes”, and “W. H. Barnes”. The school can also be seen labeled on a map from 1858 published by John E. Gillette, still surrounded by land owned by Barnes family members. On an 1867 map published by Beers, Ellis, and Soule, the school is labeled as “School No. 8” and is located in a zone labeled “Dist. No. 8”.

By 1910, the schoolhouse was deemed too small, inadequate, and had poor ventilation (Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle, August 4, 1910). Talks began by the school trustees about enlarging and renovating the school. It was hoped that more of the Barnes’ land could be bought, but Edward S. Barnes asked too high a price, and a deal could not be made. Instead, the trustees of the school moved to have part of the Barnes property condemned and taken, and by 1912 the property was condemned (March 1, 1912).

Instead of renovating and expanding, however, the trustees decided they would build an entirely new building, and by July 1912 they were meeting to award contracts to build the school. The old building was to be auctioned off, with the stipulation that it must be moved off of its current property. It was reportedly bought by George Brown, and he moved it slightly over the property line onto his land (October 2, 1912). He renovated it into a home and rented it out by 1916.

In 1955, the Poughkeepsie Journal interviewed people who had attended school in the old building, including Willets DeGarmo and Susan (Barnes) Wiltse (September 4,1955). Both remembered attending school in the building, 80 and 70 years previously, respectively. Susan Wiltse recalled that her father, Edwin S. Barnes had also attended the school. They recalled elaborate interior decorations, and teachers who had taught there. They also recalled there being as few as 2-3 students, and as many as 20 at their peak.

The school was called “the Gothic School” due to its Victorian-era features, and the name followed the student body to the new building in 1912, despite it not being built in the same style.

The student-led application for this grant came from students at Arlington High School, led by instructor Robert McHugh. The students researched the District 8 School, then gathered and submitted the required materials for the historical marker as part of our Pomeroy Education Program.