Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Building, Education

Location

2181 County Rte 11, Richville, NY 13681, USA

Lat/Long

44.471115, -75.443207

Grant Recipient

Town of De Kalb

Established in 1844, the De Kalb School District Number 16 is believed to have first been housed in a log structure in the town of De Kalb in St. Lawrence County, New York. On September 25, 1861, the school district trustees approved a plan to build a new schoolhouse. The plan called for a plank house to be built by December 1861 in time for the winter term. The trustees also resolved to raise two hundred dollars to build the new schoolhouse.

In 1871, 47 students attended De Kalb School District Number 16. The district number was changed to number 15 by 1899, and the schoolhouse continued to serve the community until 1942. At that year’s annual school district meeting, the trustees approved the closure of the school, “as there wasn’t an average the past 3 years of five pupils a year.”

In 1976, the former school was acquired by the Gouverneur Historical Association. As a project for the country’s bicentennial celebrations, it was renovated and painted schoolhouse red by students in the Yorker Club of the Gouverneur Central School. As of 2022, the former school continues to be maintained by the Gouverneur Historical Association as a museum and learning center for local school children.