Building date: 1860
Original use: Schoolhouse Dist. #6
Corner structures: Elongated Horizontally
Mortar application and content: Stones in flat mortar matrix. Mortar surrounding the stones is tan in color and is spread with a fairly flat surface from which a portion of the stones protrudes. The mortar surface shows slightly wavy areas where it was worked around the stones.
Types and uses of stones: Smooth and rounded of varied color. Because of the variable height of the quoins, the number of rows of stones is variable. Stones in the front wall are smaller than those on the sides.
Types and choice of windows: Lintels of gray limestone
Structures with similar masonry details: Gui-2, Gui-3
Masons who worked on building: R. E. Zeh
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 42°42'14.65"N 73°58'06.55"W. Current owner of record, Guilderland Central School District as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Guilderland and Albany County 1978 Highway Maps
Attribution not provided.
On Route 146 in Guilderland Center, there is a schoolhouse built in 1860 by R. E. Zeh. The quoins are gray limestone, and are elongated in length and variable in height. The door and windows have quoin-like cut stones on their sides. The windows have lintels of gray limestone, while the door has an arch of blocks of cut stones. The cobblestones are smooth and rounded and are of varied color. Mortar surrounding the stones is tan in color and is spread with a fairly flat surface from which a portion of the stones protrudes. The mortar surface shows slightly wavy areas where it was worked around the stones. Because of the variable height of the quoins, the number of rows of stones is variable. Stones in the front wall are smaller than those on the sides. In some areas, the line where work was interrupted for a time is easily seen. Roudabush Survey page 42
It was used as a school house until 1941, when the district sent its pupils to Voorheesville, under contract. Since the centralization of Guilderland schools in 1950 it has been used as an office and now as a supply storehouse by the Guilderland Central School District. Visible only to the most searching observer is this inscription, carved on one of the upper front quoins: "R.E. Zeh, mason, 1860." The cobblestones in the front of the building are small and uniform. Nine curving cut stones with smooth surfaces form an arch above the door. The front corner quoins are of irregular dimensions, becoming larger at the bottom. The three windows on each side of the building are reinforced with long, wide slabs of cut stone at the top, and long, narrow slabs at the bottom, while vertical and horizontal quoins reinforce the sidewalls about the windows. Long, flat rough cut stone slabs support the building on top of its fieldstone foundation. It was used as a schoolhouse 81 years and is still owned by the Guilderland Central School District. Its solid foundations and walls remind one of a Revolutionary blockhouse. Externally and internally, this structure is in splendid condition, belying its antiquity. Historian Notes excerpt.
Though the building has not been used as such since 1941, it is still owned by the Guilderland Central School District PDF. District 6 became part of the Guilderland Central School District #2 effective 6/20/1950. The school building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cobblestone Schoolhouse District at 479 Route 46 in Guilderland Center built for District No. 6 in Guilderland Center. Carved in upper left front corner is the inscription, "R.E. Zeh - Mason - 1860." It was used as a schoolhouse 81 years and is still owned by the Guilderland Central School District. Its solid foundations and walls remind one of a Revolutionary blockhouse. Externally and internally, this structure is in splendid condition, belying its antiquity.
Constructed in 1860, the Cobblestone School District #6 at 479 Main St., Guilderland Center, was used until 1941, when students then 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 include the establishment of a school district museum.Richard Palmer blog. Editor's Note: The last paragraph is a later revision replacing the first paragraph originally in the blog.
"The Cobblestone Houses of Upstate New York", compiled by Dorothy Wells Pease. Research done in collaboration with Hazed B. Jeffery, supplemented with material furnished by Carl F. Schmidt, 1941. Reference the tenth paragraph on page 42.
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National Register of Historic Places Registration
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, District #6 Schoolhouse
- Page 16
- "The Era of Cobblestone Architecture", unpublished manuscript 1972. To access the manuscript content about this structure, see 2. Albany County, Receiving Vault, Guilderland Cemetery. This structure is not included in the subsequent book "Cobblestone Landmarks of New York State", 1978.
 Guilderland School.jpg |  Old school.jpg |  Guilderland School 3.jpg | |
| Above The schoolhouse in the early 1900s. Children attended the cobblestone schoolhouse on Route 146 in Guilderland Center from its start in 1860 through until 1941, according to "Guilderland, Images of America: New York", book by Alice Begley and Mary Ellen Johnson, 1999. Historical photos from Guilderland Historical Society collection. | |||
 Gui_1_9.jpg ¹ 1961 |  Gui_1_8.jpg ¹ 1961 |  GP Albany Guilderland Gui-1_2 P.jpg ² 1971 |  GP Albany Guilderland Gui-1_3 P.jpg ² 1971 |
 Gui_1_1.jpg |  Gui_1_2.jpg |  Gui_1_3.jpg |  Gui_1_4.jpg |
 Gui_1_5.jpg |  Gui_1_6.jpg |  Gui_1_7.jpg |  Guilderland Dist 6 School Bennett.jpg ³ |
 Gui-1 479 NY Rt. 146 1.jpg 4 |  Gui-1 479 NY Rt. 146 2.jpg ³ |  Gui-1 479 NY Rt. 146 3.jpg 4 |  Gui-1 479 NY Rt. 146 4.jpg 4 |
 Guilderland+cobblestone+school.jpg 5 |  IMG_3776.jpg 5 |  Guilderland School 2.jpg 5 |  Schoolhouse_No._6_Guilderland_NY_Jul_11.jpg 5 |
 Detail of wall.jpg 5 | |||
¹ Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum, A. B. Gregg, Guilderland Town Historian, Altamont Enterprise, July 7, 1961
² Image courtesy Gerda Peterich.
³ Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum, photograph donated by Mrs. William D. Bennett.
4 Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
5 Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
