Abandoned Vermont: Salisbury Schoolhouse

The bank of windows make this easily recognizable as a one room schoolhouse.

One room schoolhouses are adorable. And they are an easily recognized architectural form. While they would be seemingly easy to adapt to an alternative use, many sit on the side of the road, underutilized. The District #8 Schoolhouse, ca. 1855, on Route 53 in Salisbury, VT is no exception. The schoolhouse sits in the middle of a farm field, serving as storage space for its owner. The 1977 survey photographs show a vestibule entry, which has since been removed. Otherwise, the schoolhouse retains its historic integrity with its character defining features such as the bank of windows.

District #8 School on the edge of a farm field.

Front entrance, no longer a vestibule. 

Peek into the windows and you’ll see the original materials of construction as well storage.

Bed frames, desks, stuff.

Hopefully its owner will see its potential soon.

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[Updated] Abandoned No More: Putney Schoolhouse

Remember the “Abandoned Vermont: Putney Schoolhouse“?

The Putney Schoolhouse, as seen in 2013. The plywood on the left covers the original bank of windows, a defining characteristic of one room schoolhouses. Click for original post.

Originally posted in 2013 with a follow-up in 2014, readers have commented and kept me (and you) informed about the project. Last month, I was traveling through Putney and thought I’d drive by to check on the schoolhouse’s progress. To my surprise, the project is complete.

Take a look at these photos, and let me know what you think. I’ll let you look before I comment.

The Putney Schoolhouse, September 2015.

View from the north, Westminster West Road.

View from the south, Westminster West Road.

Side addition. The bank of windows is lost.

New fenestration.

Hooray, right?! An old building rehabilitated. Right? Well, almost. The massing is appropriate and respectful of the original building. Even the small woodshed remains. The setting and feeling remain. BUT, what happened to the bank of windows? That is the most defining, most visible characteristic of a one-room schoolhouse. And now there are only two windows (see two photos above, and compare to the 2013 image).

What do you think? What would you do differently? Or is this a good compromise? Would you say it meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation?

And to my surprise, it’s an AirBnB rental! Check it out. While I’d like the bank of windows, I’ll admit, the inside looks beautiful.

Abandoned New York: Fort Covington Schoolhouse

Sitting alongside State Highway 37, just outside Fort Covington, New York sits this one-room brick schoolhouse. The unmistakable bank of windows caught my eye from down the road. A quick u-turn was definitely worth it to snap a few photographs. Without a sign to its name or any indication of ownership, I had to assume it was abandoned (perhaps only used for storage). If you know anything about this lonely schoolhouse, I’d love to hear.

One room brick schoolhouse. The bank of windows gave it away.

Interesting front entrance: no windows in the front, but nice return cornices, indicative of Greek Revival style. Those trees must have been planted when the school was very young. You can envision the  coats and lunch pails in the front entrance, the blackboard on the front wall, and desks lined up facing the board, so the sun would shine over the students’ left shoulders. A small wood frame addition is on the left, and likely held the privies. A concrete block addition on the rear likely held wood or coal and other supplies. 

Closer view of the front. A slate walkway leads you to the frame door, and planters oppose each other on the large stone slab. The foundation is stone, also. 

A historic doorknob.

Six windows in the bank. A flagpole stands in the school yard without a flag.

Behind the school is a concrete block addition and playground remnants. Here is the frame for a see-saw. No other equipment to be found.

The schoolhouse appears in relatively good condition, despite the broken window sashes. Perhaps it does have an owner, or at least a future.

Abandoned Vermont: Shaftsbury House

Driving by in the summertime, this house gave that abandoned aura. Driving by in the winter, it gave me the same feel. Finally, I had an opportunity to pull over and gaze at the building. The verdict? On a frigid (2 degrees) February day, this house looked frozen (actually frozen). With snow over my knees (and not the proper boots), I couldn’t get very close. Abandoned, vacant, seasonal or used for storage – it’s hard to tell.

Many readers always ask for information about the photographs on Preservation in Pink. Information is not always available. But, lucky for us, this house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Center Shaftsbury Historic District (see #22, Section 7, page 50).

The ca. 1850 Norman R. and C. Amelia Douglass House. It looks as though someone started to paint… sort of (note the white and gray on the first story).

A bit about the architecture (from the NR): This ca. 1850 Greek Revival style house is a two-story, three by three bay gable front with sidehall plan, a two bay wing and rear attached shed. The single story porch wraps around the west and south elevations of the main house block.

The house is clad in clapboard on all sides except the area sheltered by the porch, which is flushboard. The double leaf doors with stained glass on the front porch were likely added at the beginning of the 20th century, perhaps when the windows were changed from 6/6 to 1/1.

Beautiful mature trees on the property. As for the house: note the 6/6 sash on the second floor and the 1/1 sash on the first floor. The first floor windows would be newer. Also note the tapered corner pilasters.

Side elevation, in which the house looks frozen (one clue is the snow between the storm window and the interior sash).

A bit of history (from the NR): This house was owned and built by Norman R. Douglass (1818-1897) who from 1851-1856 was one of the principals in the Eagle Square Manufacturing Company of South Shaftsbury, a long-lived and successful company that formed for the purpose of manufacturing accurate metal carpenter’s squares. His wife was C. Amelia Douglass (1828-1919).

Clark and Rhoda Stone lived here in 1869 and in 1880. The Child’s Gazetteer lists Stone as a livestock dealer and farmer with two hundred acres of land, as well as one hundred acres of timber land in Glastenbury and part interested in 2,500 acres on West Mountain in Shaftsbury. Subsequent owners included Ralph Bottom and Harry Ellison.

Sunny, frigid day, and nothing shoveled or plowed.

View from across the street.

At the time of the National Register nomination (1988), the property was owned by Priscilla & Woflgang Ludwig and the house was rented to tenants. A search reveals that Ludwig Dairy remains in operation in Shaftsbury, today. Where does this leave the beautiful house, 27 years after the NR? Often old farmhouses are used for storage or seasonal use, as descendants built new houses down the road for one reason or another. The Douglass House appears to be generally maintained and on land used by the family farm.

This is large cement block barn sits behind the Douglass House. It and a few other farm buildings appear to be in use.

The conclusion? It’s not quite abandoned, but it certainly does not appear to be lived in. Hopefully there is a brighter future for this Greek Revival house.

The picturesque road adjacent to the Douglass House.

Boquet Octagonal Schoolhouse

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.

Preservation Photos #220

Prosper Community House (classic school architecture) just north of Woodstock, VT on Route 12.

Georgia, VT Schoolhouse

This schoolhouse – District No. 2 in Georgia, Vermont – is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been restored according to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards. It is also known as the Georgia Stone School.

View of the schoolhouse from the road. The stone section was built in 1843. The frame addition was constructed to bring the school to education standards.

National Register of Historic Places.

These  8/8 windows are replacement in-kind. The window bank is an easy identifier of a schoolhouse.

A small parking lot is set away from the schoolhouse and visitors walk through the trees to this view. The cars do not obscure the historic setting of the building, as they are out of sight.

Looking inside the ell.

Another view inside the ell. See the chalkboard on the back wall.

The stone school house has photographs and documents on display.

What a beautiful restoration it is. The schoolhouse is privately owned, and is open for private special events. It’s nice to see historic buildings rehabilitated for personal use.

Abandoned Vermont: Putney Schoolhouse

Schoolhouses are easy to recognize, especially one room schoolhouses that appear to have a bank of windows. This brick building in Putney, VT struck me as just that.

Sitting along the edge of the road.

A stone wall runs along the property, up to the woodshed.

The front door. And, look at the brick and granite.

The telltale bank of windows behind the plywood, and rear windows for additional light. The windows appear to be intact, based on what little could be seen behind the plywood. 

Rear and side of the schoolhouse, more windows and a connected woodshed.

The woodshed, much less elaborate than the brick structure.

Two windows on this side, and a good view of the slate roof. 

View across the road from the schoolhouse.

You can clearly see the potential in this building, even on a rainy summer afternoon. If you have information, please share.

Abandoned Vermont: Dover Schoolhouse

This one room schoolhouse sits on a dirt road in southern Vermont. It appears to be recently inhabited, though the current broken windows, messy interior and damaged foundation say that no one uses the building currently. However, it is far from gone and certainly worthy of preservation. It is one of the oldest structures in Dover.

The 1790 Little Red Schoolhouse in Dover, VT.

A garage addition.

The front entrance of the schoolhouse.

Above the door,

This 1790 schoolhouse was updated with large windows to meet new school standards, likely in the early decades of the 20th century.

Looking through a broken window you can see the original ceiling and added acoustic tile ceiling, historic light fixtures and a mix of furniture.

Have you seen any other 18th century schoolhouses where you live?

Preservation Photos #150

A one room schoolhouse in Union Village, VT.