Abandoned — Charlotte Kenyon Elementary School

I’ve been really excited to get into this building for an episode of Abandoned. This time, we pulled into the Town of Barker, NY to the old Charlotte Kenyon Elementary School. While peering through its broken windows, I couldn’t help but think of all of the childhood memories that were made inside that school. The elements and Mother Nature have taken her stronghold on the structure and are doing a ton of damage very quickly. We hiked the gambit of floors that displayed conditions ranging from two inches of ice caked on them, to floors that looked like they could be easily repaired. Climbing staircases upward made the areas that seemed repairable turn into my camera girl and I checking floors and doors before taking each and every step forward. It was a humbling feeling to stroll the hallways and witness what happens to a structure without heat, repair and general upkeep.

The school was built during the Great Depression and its first graduation class consisted of 12 students. It was a very nice looking brick building containing several classrooms, a lunchroom area, and an auditorium, which was also used as the gymnasium. In 1941 construction crews put on an addition to the school house that included a large cafeteria and six more classrooms. During World War II, the attendance continued to rise, causing them to add a second addition in 1947.