Building date:
Original use: Schoolhouse
Corner structures: Only two corners have quoins, which are large thin blocks of square cut brown sandstone or gray limestone.
Mortar application and content: Hexagonal mortar
Types and uses of stones: Stones are laid irregularly in 3 or 4 rows per quoin.
Types and choice of windows: Window lintels are gray limestone.
Structures with similar masonry details: In Orleans county, 29 buildings show this type of mortar, usually on a back wall, and of this number, 14 are in the Town of Gaines.
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features:
Harmony Grange on the northwest corner of the crossroads at Blodgett Mills W Rd and Kellogg Road has a one story section extending across about two-thirds of the front wall. The left side is cobblestone, as is part of the back wall. The remainder of the building is covered with simulated yellow brick siding. Only two corners have quoins, which are large thin blocks of square cut brown sandstone or gray limestone. At the back corner, the quoins are more irregular than those in the front. Stones are laid irregularly in 3 or 4 rows per quoin. Window lintels are gray limestone.
The rear wall has an area with hexagonal mortar surrounding the stones. This type of mortar handling occurs in only one other county - Orleans. In that county, 29 buildings show this type of mortar, usually on a back wall, and of this number, 14 are in the Town of Gaines, which is 50% of the structures in Gains.
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°34'06.13"N 76°07'33.68"W. Current owner of record, unknown as of date (YMD) 190313.
Google Maps incorrectly locates the address next door north. The former Harmony Grange structure is a few feet away from the intersection of Kellog Road and Blodgett Mills W Road on the north west corner.
NOTE
Town of Cortlandville and Cortland County 1975 Highway Maps
Listed as Harmony Grange, Blodgett Mills in the Roudabush Survey.
Harmony Grange No. 272 at 3337 Kellogg Road was built over an old cobblestone school house in 1895 purchased from Wayland and Jennie Spencer for $275. The school had been abandoned for some time. The new Grange hall was dedicated on Oct. 30, 1903. The new portion was built over the top of the school house and extended to the north. Harmony Grange was discontinued in 2008. The building has since been sold. This was the oldest Grange organization in Cortland County, having been formed in 1876. Richard Palmer blog.
Editor's Note: When an effort was made to improve the quality of the photograph "Cobblestone Blodgett Mills school.jpg" below, it appeared that the building was a frame structure, not cobblestone. I sent an inquiry to the Cortland Count Historical Society and received the following response dated 11/11/2010.
Thank you for reaching out to us here at the Cortland County Historical Society.
I have done a quick research to try to clear this mystery up. What I have been able to conclude is that the schoolhouse depicted in the photograph is actually a different building. According to a map from 1876, a schoolhouse existed on the corner diagonal from where the old cobblestone schoolhouse was, which at that time was being used as a store by the McVean's. A pamphlet history written around 1976 backs this fact up, stating that in 1868 the cobblestone school was sold to school trustees of District #20 of Cortlandville, who in turn deeded it to the McVean's. In 1895 it was sold to Wayland Spencer and his wife who sold it later that same year to Harmony Grange #372. Deed records further confirm this information.
I took a look through our photographs and other than the picture you already received from Richard Palmer, as well as several others of the frame wood schoolhouse, it would appear we are not in possession of any additional images of the cobblestone structure.
Thank you for the work you are doing to create this info base.All my best,
Sophie CloughCollections and Research Assistant
Cortland County Historical Society
Although photography was becoming established by 1868 when the cobblestone schoolhouse was sold, it was an awkward and daunting task; therefore, it is unlikely that a photograph exists from that time period. The photograph of the later Blodgett Mills school will remain in the Cobblestone Info Base to provide an insight into the school, staff and students of that era. A community playground park is located where the frame schoolhouse building stood.
- Student research paper, "Cobblestone Houses in Cortland", by Chelyssa Brown-Wallace
 Cobblestone Blodgett Mills school.jpg 4 The Blodgett Mills frame school house as it appeared when it was still in use. |  Cor-2 Harmony Grange 1.jpg ¹ |  Cor-2 Harmony Grange 2.jpg ¹ |  Cor_2_1.jpg |
 Cor_2_2.jpg |  Cor_2_3.jpg |  Cor_2_4.jpg |  Cor_2_5.jpg |
 Cor-2 3337 Kellogg Road 1.jpg ² |  Cor-2 3337 Kellogg Road 2.jpg ² |  Cobblestone Blodgett Mills front.jpg ² Harmony Grange as it appeared in the 1950s. |  Cortland 8.jpg ³ Harmony Grange Hall today. The cobblestone portion which was the old school is clearly visible. |
 Cortland 9.jpg ³ Abandoned for years, the Harmony Grange Hall in Blodgett Mills is falling apart. |  1855 Cortland County Map Cor-2 Excerpt.jpg 5 |
