The Round Cobblestone School Houses

      Two of the most unique cobblestone buildings in this region Yates County - both now gone - were of the so-called "jug" or circular design. They were Potter Rural School District No. 5 on West Swamp Road in the town of Potter and the Pine School House at the intersection of what is now Route 245 and Lindsley Loomis Road near Rushville. The only another known "jug" school house was located near Phelps in Ontario County.
      Potter school was built in 1838. It was built on land purchased from Sylvester Clark for $9 and was used for 81 years. It replaced an earlier school on the site that was housed in a log cabin. Seats were semi-circular, similar to auditoriums found today in colleges and universities. The teacher taught and lectured from her desk located in the center, next to a coal stove. Students originally sat desks around the room.
      The record of the early history of the school district shows that at the annual meeting held on October 2, 1837, it was "Resolved, That there be a committee of three appointed to ascertain the different methods of building a school house and that they report the plans at the next annual meeting of the district. D.J. McMaster, John A. Cadmus and Ashley S. Thomas were appointed a committee to look into the matter.
      At the next annual meeting on April 2, 1838 it was:
      "Resolved, That we, the inhabitants of this district, build a new school house that shall be built of cobble stones for that purpose, and the trustees are hereby authorized to let the building of the new school house for the amount raised, or build it under their own direction in case they cannot let the job for the amount raised.
      "Resolved, That the new school house shall be built of cobble stones and round, thirty feet in diameter and eleven feet high." The $300 which the district raised was evidently not sufficient even in those days of the low cost of living. In the record of the annual meeting of 1838, it was voted "to raise $350 by tax for the completion of the new school house."
      Some of the stones were gathered from the fields in the vicinity of the building, and the rest were drawn here from Seneca Lake. The walls which were lined with the black boards, were nearly two feet thick so the school house was well insulated. It served its intended purpose for some 83 years. There were two out houses separated by a high fence - one for boys and the other for girls. For those thirsty a pail of water and a dipper were furnished.
      A fire on January 20, 1920 that started in the chimney and quickly spread, heavily damaged this unique structure. It was decided not to repair it was torn down. At the time there were 10 students and Miss Gertrude Wheeler was the teacher. It was replaced by a wooden structure that was later moved to Castle Street in Rushville after Middlesex Valley Central School District was formed. The property reverted to the Underwood family.
      The Pine School was known as School District No. 1. It appears on the 1852 map of Yates county. Rushville Historian Robert E. Moody said it was built in the 1840s or 1850s but had a poor foundation, resulting in cracks in the walls. The building was considered dangerous and was eventually demolished and replaced by a wooden frame building. No picture has been found of it.
      Frances L. Adams wrote many years later:
      "My first recollection of tis remarkable school house was on the 19th of June, 185-. That morning my mother dressed me in my Sunday best, for the first day at school was a notable event. I wore a Spencer waist of yellow dotted with black, a blue skirt, long pantalettes of embroidery, and red morocco shoes. Instead of a hat I wore a pink calico sunbonnet. I was placed in care of my cousin, Theodore Christie, as I was only "half-past four" and he was twelve. I felt very proud to have such a big boy as my escort."

Editor's Note: There are claimed to be four and likely a fifth round cobblestone schools. There may be references in the Cobblestone Info Base documentation that there were only two or three. The five schools documented in the Cobblestone Info Base are:

Phe-25 Round Jug School, #20 Dimock District, Town of Phelps and Ontario County
Phe-26 Schoolhouse District 19, Town of Phelps, Ontario County
Mid-2 School District No 1, Town of Middlesex, Yates County
Pot-1 School District No 5, Town of Potter and Yates County

      "Through The Door", Remembered, researched and written by Sophia Voorhees Emerson, Spring 1986. The publication is a gift given in October 2021 to the Cobblestone Museum by Elaine Hilton and her sister Scarlett Emerson, local Middlesex NY historians. Elaine's and Scarlet's mother wrote this 30-page booklet about her remembrances of the cobblestone round jug Schoolhouse #5 in Potter, N. Y.

Lyo-16 Jennings District No 3, Town of Lyons, Yates County.

Editor's Note: Mabel E Oaks, Phelps Historian in 1981, and prolific writer of several books about Phelps and area history, wrote a letter to Barbara Swartout confirming the McIvor Rd and Whiskey Hill Rd cobblestone jug schoolhouses. She quoted Gertrude Ennis' "Tales of Alloway" (written 1975 when she was town historian): "In South Lyons, west of Alloway, the Jennings district schoolhouse was of cobblestone - round with shed attached as entrance and for wood storage. The chimney in the roof's center made it resemble a jug. This building was demolished in 1889 in spite of bitter protest and replaced by a wooden structure." Ms Oaks also points out in this letter that Ms Ennis erroneously used a picture of the McIvor Road schoolhouse in representing the Jennings district schoolhouse. Despite innumerable hours of hunting through newspapers and other resources, I have never been able to confirm this information. My research does suggest, however, that the two Phelps jug schoolhouses were being razed in this same timeframe, so I consider the Jennings schoolhouse a high probability. Karen Crandall email 9/9/2021. See Karen's History Sheet for additional information.

1853 Wayne County Jennings School Excerpt Map.jpg ¹ The school location highlighted on the map has not been confirmed to be the Jennings School though it agrees with the quote above from the "Tales of Alloway". A typical construction cobblestone school structure still exists further west on Jackson School Road.

¹ 1853 Wayne County Map Jennings School Excerpt Map courtesy Library of Congress.

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