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FORMER SCHOOL

Program
NYS Historic
Subject
Education, Site
Location
3859 Main St, Strykersville, NY 14145, USA
Lat/Long
42.69936, -78.447894
Grant Recipient
Town of Sheldon
Historic Marker

FORMER SCHOOL

Inscription

FORMER SCHOOL
DISTRICT #20 EST. HERE 1844,
LATER DISTRICT #10. REBUILT
AS TWO-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE 1891,
CLOSED 1970. OPENED AS MUSEUM
BY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1983.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2022

In 1844, the Trustees of School District No. 20 purchased this property and established a schoolhouse here. Secondary sources note that this schoolhouse was later sold and moved to the opposite side of the street. It served as a meeting hall for various fraternal organizations until it was ultimately demolished and replaced by a parochial school.

The present two-room schoolhouse was built on the original site of District No. 20 in 1891 by local architect William Bettendorf. By 1902, it was renamed District No. 10. Despite staunch resistance from the community, it consolidated with the Holland Central School District and later closed in 1970. In 1974, the district sold the schoolhouse to the Town of Sheldon. Shortly after, the Sheldon Historical Society began working with the town to restore the schoolhouse, and in August 1983 it was dedicated as the Schoolhouse Museum. It also houses a community library furnished by the books of Dorotha E. Kirsch, the former school’s last teacher.