One-Room Schoolhouses Live On in Many Shapes in Upstate New York

One-room schoolhouses are a charming nostalgic touchstone to the past.  They are everywhere it seems, but sometimes you have to look hard, very hard, to make sure what you are looking at is actually an old one-room school.

These buildings, many of them as much as 150 years old, have found new life in a variety of ways.  Of the dozens of remaining one-rooms schools in Upstate New York, you will find them being used as book stores, private homes, museums (the most popular usage of an old school), vacation rentals, and even retail shops.  Some of them are red, like the classic old schoolhouses we see in paintings.  Others are are green, yellow, and even white (like the one in this photo).

The ones that are currently re-purposed as museums deserve a closer look by history buffs and road warriors.  Usually you will find artifacts of the old school itself, as well as much documentation of the school district and neighboring communities from over a century ago.  They are a wonderful treasure trove of data for those who are interested in maybe seeking out information about ancestors from long ago.

We salute one and all who have kept these one-room schoolhouses alive for future generations to enjoy.  And, with over 100 of these one-room schoolhouses to be found online, if the one you are familiar with in your town is not on this list, we encourage you to visit our Facebook page and give it a shout out!