Students have been heading back to school in the fall for a good long time. During the Common School Era of the 1800s, Bethlehem had 14 one-room school districts. Elsmere, District No. 15, was added in 1911.
Are you curious as to why modern-day school districts in
Upstate New York do not follow town lines? It is because in the 20th
century, groups of common school districts banded together to provide better
education. One-room school districts only had grades one through eight. If a
family desired a high school education for their children, they had to go
elsewhere. In the Delmar area, that was into Albany. In the Selkirk area, that
usually meant going into Ravena. In 1930, seven districts combined to form the
Bethlehem Central School District (BCSD). In 1947 districts in Bethlehem’s
southern portion combined to form the Union Free School District which
eventually merged with Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central Schools (RCS).
Here’s the whole list of Bethlehem’s one-room schools. Noted
in parentheses is the area’s current school district.
District No.1 Cedar Hill
Cedar Hill boasted the first school in town in 1720 at the Nicholl Farm. The
building that stands on River Road at the corner of Clapper was constructed in
1859, and enlarged in 1907. It was used as a school until 1961. The building is
now owned by the Town of Bethlehem and is home to the Bethlehem Historical
Association. (RCS)
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| District No. 1 - Cedar Hill |
District No.2 Selkirk
Built about 1850 on what is now Old Ravena Road, Selkirk’s original one-room
school was destroyed by fire. The school still standing on Thatcher Road was
built in 1928. (RSC)
District No. 3 South Bethlehem
South Bethlehem’s one-room school stood on Bridge Street near the fire
house. It was replaced by the school that now stands on South Albany Road. The
South Albany Road school building, erected the early 1920s, is now a private
residence. (RCS)
District No.4 Jericho
The Jericho one-room school is now a private home on Creble Road. It was
replaced by the school that still stands on Old School Road. That one is now
apartments. (RCS)
District No. 5 Niver or Church
The District No.5 school still stands today on Route 9W north of the First
Reformed Church of Bethlehem and next to the former Niver family homestead. It
is now a private residence. (RCS)
 |
| District No. 5 - Niver or Church |
District No. 6 Van Wies
The Van Wies Point one-room school still stands on River Road at the corner
of Bask Road. It closed in 1947 and is also now a private residence. (BCSD)
 |
| District No. 6 Van Wies Point, circa 1940. Miss Williams, the teacher is in back. Left to
right in front are Betty Snyder, Shirley Snyder, Mary Bruce, maybe Ruth Kerra,
Nancy Scharff, maybe Anna May Kerra, John Scharff, Louis Storm, Bill Stapf,
Bill Delong and Robert Weiler. |
A brick one-room school used to stand on 9W at the corner with Feura Bush
Road in Glenmont. In 1925 it was replaced with the larger school which still
stands and houses the Bethlehem Preschool. (BCSD)
District No. 8 Houk’s Corners
Houk’s Corners is the old name for the intersection of Feura Bush Road and
Elm Avenue. The one-room school for this district is just west of the
intersection and is a private home. (BCSD)
District No. 9 Slingerland
Slingerland’s original one-room school was replaced by the one that is
still standing on New Scotland Road. It is was converted to apartments in the
1940s. (BCSD)
District No.10 Delmar
Delmar School began with a brick, one-room school that was replaced about 1909
with the building that now houses the Masonic Temple at the corner of Kenwood
Avenue and Adams Street. (BCSD)
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| District No. 10 Delmar |
District No. 11 Normansville
The Normansville School was located on Delaware Avenue on the bluff overlooking
the Normans Kill. (BCSD)
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| District No. 11 Normansville. The student with an X over his head is Malcom Baxter. |
District No. 12 Kenwood
The district No.12 school in Kenwood was located on South Pearl Street in the
vicinity of modern-day Old South Pearl Street. This area was annexed by the
City of Albany in the 1916.
District No.13 Hurstville
Hurstville was located in the area of modern-day Whitehall Road and New
Scotland Avenue. It was annexed by Albany in 1967.
District No.14 North Bethlehem
This one-room school is now a private residence on Krumkill Road near where
Schoolhouse Road comes in. Today, students in North Bethlehem attend
Guilderland schools.
District No.15 Elsmere
As the Normansville school became overcrowded, District No.15 was created
in 1911. A one-room school on West Poplar Drive was built and enlarged just a
few years later. Elsmere continued to grow and the present Elsmere School on
Delaware Avenue was built in 1927. Eventually the Poplar Drive school was
removed to make way for the American Legion Post. (BCSD)
FLASHES AND DASHES
The Cedar Hill Schoolhouse Museum, home of the Bethlehem
Historical Association, is open Sunday afternoons through the end of October. Stop
by and check out their one-room school exhibit. It includes a map and pictures
of all the schools above.
Second Saturday history walks continue this fall. September 11 is walk at Elmwood Cemetery and October 9 is a history hike in the hamlet of Selkirk.
Visit the BHA website for more details. Register for the walk with the Bethlehem Parks Department.
https://bethlehemhistorical.org/
