Constructed in 1860, the Cobblestone
School remained Guilderland Center's schoolhouse until 1941, when
students attended classes in Voorheesville. The building is located
on the west side of Route 146 in Guilderland Center and is still owned
by the Guilderland School District. Present plans for the building
include the establishment of a school district museum.
During school days in the Cobblestone
Schoolhouse students brought dinner baskets or buckets not lunch boxes.
Textbooks were not provided, so each student had to provide his/her
own. If unable to do so, there was a small amount of money available
for this purpose through the Board of Education. Many students would
buy books after the crops had been sold.
Rural schools had two sessions: the
summer and the winter. Students had to be home for the spring planting
season and the fall harvest season. Also, the winter session could
only be held when coal was given to the school, as often there wasn't
enough money to buy any. Due to lack of knowledge about germs, there
was a pail for everyone to drink water from the same tin dipper. School
opened every day at 9 a.m. with the ringing of a bell and closed every
day at 4 p.m. Boys and girls sat on opposite sides of the room.
One of the primary elements of interest
on this building is its cobblestone exterior. For a brief period cobblestone
became a favorite construction material. There are less than 500 estimated
examples of cobblestone architecture left standing from this period.
This
photograph taken circa 1890 shows students of the school and possibly
their parents. Picture courtesy of Guilderland Historical Society.
