If you find errors OR have additional information about this site, please send a message to contact@waynehistorians.org.
Sodus District 18 Schoolhouse aka Joy School now known as the Joy Community Center
| Historic Site #: | 12-074 (Exists) Type: D,E3 | Town: | Sodus | ||
| Site Name: | Sodus District 18 Schoolhouse aka Joy School now known as the Joy Community Center | GPS Coordinates: | 43.194165, -77.093788 | ||
| Address: | 6113 Main St. Sodus New York NE Corner Main St. & Joy Rd, Joy | ||||
| Description: | |||||
| The Joy Schoolhouse now used as a community center. According to NYGEN, the school opened in 1833 and closed in 1950. | |||||
 |
 |
| Late 1800s as it appears on the Town of Sodus Mural | 1930-31 Class List. Photo by Bette Bugni. |
 |
 |
| !947-48 Class Photo and List. Photo by Bette Bugni. | 1949-50 Class Photo and List. Photo by Bette Bugni. |
 |
 |
| Photo by Bavis 2014 | Photo courtesy of Edith Farrington |
| Historic narrative: | |||||
The following information is from Pauline Dodge and Ellie RedderLocated at Joy Road and Main Street in JoyThe Joy Schoolhouse opened in 1833 and taught generations of children until it closed in 1950. Below are the recollections of two women who fondly remember attending the schoolhouse:Joy School House – Pauline DodgeMy brothers and my sister and I attended the Joy school. My teacher (and probably the others) was Miss LeRoy.As we lived on the corner of Joy and Hill Roads, it was quite a walk for a little girl. (I can remember my Dad walking me to school on his shoulders thru the snow.) My oldest brother was in 8th grade there when I started-he and my other brother, Henry, and my sister, Betty, were ahead of me. I have been told the teacher said, “Oh no! Not another DeVey!” My family moved to Sodus when I was in the fourth grade.I don’t ever remember closing school because of weather! Maybe because the teacher boarded at the home across the road!Joy School House – Ellie RedderWhat a difference it was in 1942 when I transferred in second grade from the main school in the Village of Sodus to the Joy School…one teacher and six grades. Mrs. Hill was our first teacher, and then Miss Grimm for my remaining years there.I remember the importance placed on our spelling tests and Math…those were the two subjects I recall…there was no Science or Social Studies. In the later years, the Town District sent a gym and music teacher twice a month, if we were lucky. Our heat in the winter was a furnace in the basement, with one large register in the center of the building.We usually walked to school, approximately one mile, in most weather conditions. We were fortunate to have a pond just down the road from school, which froze over in the winter and was a great place for us to skate. We would bring our skates to school, going early before school started. I remember being late one morning…that was the end of that! We did skate after school. In the spring, we played baseball and kickball. There were three large trees, perfectly placed to serve as our bases.At Christmas and the end of the school year, we produced programs, plays, read poems, and sang songs. We even had a stage in the school for this, and our parents were invited.After sixth grade, students were transferred to the high school. That was a big change! This is most of what I remember of the Joy School.
As was the case with many of the small neighborhood schools in the Town of Sodus, this school was closed in 1950 when education in the Town of Sodus was centralized to the new school on Mill Street in the Village of Sodus. Nowadays the Joy Schoolhouse is used as a community center. District #18 Joy/Salmon Creek Teachers 1833-date school opened | |||||
Town of Sodus Historical Society web page
NYGEN Town of Sodus Teachers web page