Building date: Demolished 1954
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Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 43°26'04.80"N 76°33'47.91"W. Current owner of record, Parcel 1 Jennings / Parcel 2 Simons as of the 2019 Tax Roll.
Town of Oswego and Oswego County Maps
The "Cobblestone School" was located on Cemetery Road in Fruit Valley, an area west of Oswego. It was demolished in 1954 and was known as Common School District No. 2 of Oswego Town. Richard Palmer blog.
Old Fruit Valley School To Be Sold At Public Auction
Original Site Was Purchased By Trustees of District 127 years Ago, Oswego Palladium Times, June 13, 1953
The little cobblestone school house on Rural Cemetery Road, a short distance south of the four corners at Fruit Valley, and the ground on which it stands, is going under the auctioneer's hammer, probably Saturday, June 20, one week from today.
Long in disuse, the building is in a dilapidated condition and is considered of little or no value. However, there are two plots of ground connected with it, having a combined area of about 20,000 square feet. The site is considered especially attractive for the erection of one or more dwellings.
Officially known as Common School District 2 of Oswego Town, authorization to dispose of the property at a public sale has been given by Mrs. Francis J. Michaels, trustee, by Lewis A. Wilson, state commissioner of education. Mrs. Michaels has enlisted the aid of County Attorney Edward F. Crawford, Jr., and details for the sale are being arranged.
The search shows that Parcel No. 1, on which the building is located was conveyed by Eleazer Perry to Erastus Todd, Nathan Farnham and Abner Wood, trustees of the school district, on April 28, 1826. A small one-room school house was erected immediately thereafter. The four walls were made with cobblestones gathered from the nearby shore of Lake Ontario. Whether this was the type of construction of the original building or whether it was an ordinary frame structure is not known. At any rate, the present cobblestone building has been there as long as the oldest resident of Fruit Valley can recall.
As the population of Fruit Valley, or Union Village, as it was originally called, increased, the school trustees saw the possible need for a large school. So they purchase a much larger plot of ground immediately to the south. This plot, composed of 14,000 square feet, was deeded to the school district by William and Sophia Clark on Nov. 2, 1871. Whether the trustees had plans for erecting a larger school is not known. At least no such plans were ever carried out.
Used Until 1914
The school was used until 1914, when arrangements were made for sending children to Oswego city schools. Miss Grace Parkinson was the last teacher. This arrangement has since been in effect. Asa C. Pease, a lifelong resident of Rural Cemetery Road, who is now in his 90th year, attended the Cobblestone School until he was 12 years old. He is one of the oldest residents of the area. Many who became men and women of prominence in Oswego or other places, attended school here. Among them was John B. Alexander, attorney-at-law, owner and publisher of the Oswego Daily Times, who for many years was Oswego postmaster.
An official survey of the school property recently made, shows that a small wooden addition at the rear of the school building extends a short distance over the westerly line of the original parcel and onto land owned buy Carl Irwin, owner of all the property along Rural Cemetery Road, between Route 104 and the school house.
Property on the south and west of School Parcel No. 2, is presently owned by Daniel H. Conway, whose extensive residence is almost directly across the highway from the school property and the auction sale may be featured by some spirited bidding, it was indicated today. Richard Palmer blog.
 Cobblestone schoolhouse 1.jpg ¹ |
¹ Image courtesy Richard Palmer blog. Attribution not provided.
