It’s not everyday that you encounter an octagonal stone schoolhouse; but drive on Route 22 through the tiny hamlet of Boquet in the town of Essex, NY and you’ll come across this historic 1826 structure. Designed by architect Benjamin Gilbert, the school served the population around the local, growing sawmills. The octagon was later popularized by Thomas Jefferson at Poplar Forest (read more here from AARCH). Today the building is owned by the town and open for tours by appointment. Many original features remain in this octagonal schoolhouse. The community is undertaking a fundraiser to raise money for restoration of the building. Read more here. And there’s an old set of swings, too. Take a look!
Boquet Schoolhouse in Essex, NY.
Stone & octagonal. The local heritage organization (ECHO) is raising money to repair to building.
And a bit of a historic playground to go along with the schoolhouse!
These old swings are made of a canvas-like material instead of rubber like you’d see nowadays.
Still functioning swings.
Always nice to see a schoolhouse!
Reblogged this on MySchoolhouseRocks and commented:
Here is an interesting schoolhouse from New York State. Would have been neat to have an octagonal building.
It looks like a New Englandy yurt.
Ha, that made me laugh. 🙂
🙂
Ha! Of the slightly less portable variety… 🙂
Love this! There is a historical octagonal property in Hudson, WI.
Good to know! Is it residential or civic?
Civic. I believe it is now a museum.