WHERE HISTORY LIVES PART 1: The Little Red Schoolhouse

The Little Red Schoolhouse was erected in 1772 as a Baptist Church and remained a church until 1814, when it was converted into a one-room school house. It served as a school continuously from 1814 until 1935 , and then again from 1952 thru 1972, serving as a kindergarten-- as part of the Lakeland Central School District. In 1989, it was officially recognized on both the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places. It subsequently became the home and meeting place of The Van Cortlandville Historical Society, which began conducting its Early School Days program at the Schoolhouse in 1975, to enable local fourth graders to experience classroom life in the 1840s. Thus, it provided the rare opportunity for young learners to step into a preserved piece of educational history. The schoolroom and adjoining meeting room of the Society has books, photographs and classroom items dating back to that early era.

-Richard H. Becker, M.D.
Supervisor,
Town of Cortlandt