Guilford Historical Society to celebrate school house renovations

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July 24, 2012

Guilford Historical Society to celebrate school house renovations

Staff Report The Daily Star Tue Jul 24, 2012, 09:06 AM EDT

What’s being described as an old-fashioned school picnic is set from noon to 3 p.m. Aug. 4 because there is a lot to celebrate at the site of the Roots Corners one-room school house.

The Guilford Historical Society is taking the end of a five-year project to renovate the school house as an opportunity with the picnic and an open house.

Hot food will be served, and attendees are invited to bring a dish to pass and their own chairs for the picnic.

The public is also encouraged to help prepare for the event with a cleanup at 9 a.m. Thursday. Organizers said they hope to clear out the school, clean the floors, hang the blackboards and coat racks, and give a final cleaning to the windows.

The school room site has a rich history, Wilma Felton-Gray of the historical society said.

“On Oct. 31, 1835, county school commissioners met at the home of George Guy to establish the boundary lines of District No. 15,” she wrote to The Daily Star. “This area was known as Gospel Hill, so-called as it was a tract of land set aside by New York state for religious and education purposes. By April 1836, money collected from the town and county was distributed to each district. District No. 15 had 45 students and was given $18.67 for the year.

“Many changes occurred during the years to the boundaries of District No. 15. By 1843, the district was listed as Guilford/Oxford and had 45 students and received $32.26. In 1851, there were 27 students. The teacher was paid $34.19 for the year.”

Felton-Gray said two new school houses were built in 1871, including one at Roots Corners. A letter in August 1928 said District No. 15 would close, and 94 years of education at the Roots Corner School ended.

But in 2005, property owner Tania Benkovitz donated and deeded the 141-year-old school building and an acre of land to the Guilford Historical Society.

Restoration work began in 2007, and plans call for the school to be used for tours by school children and others.

A picnic to celebrate this achievement, it would seem, would indeed be in order.