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Arcadia District 3 Schoolhouse - Mud Mills
| Historic Site #: | 01-069 (Exists) Type: E3 | Town: | Arcadia | ||
| Site Name: | Arcadia District 3 Schoolhouse - Mud Mills | GPS Coordinates: | 43.0769265874564, -77.0812059307589 | ||
| Address: | Route 88 N to 2329 Ryder Road | ||||
| Description: | |||||
Former student of the Brantling Hill Schoolhouse, Joyce De Rue, who worked at the Courier-Gazette Paper for over 20 years, is able to provide much insight into these schools specifically with regards to how they operated. In her article “Rural Schools - a Thing of the Past,” published in The Courier-Gazette, Joyce provides some general information for the Arcadia district schoolhouses Nos. 1-20, as well a bit of information on the District 3 Mud Mills.2 Description written by John Trutt | |||||
| Historic narrative: | |||||
While the school does not have a currently known date of opening, the first teacher who is said to have taught at the school was Mrs. Harold (Dorothy) Catlin, who taught from 1936-46. It is evident that the school predates Mrs. Catlin, due to the fact that she remarks about an attendance officer (Herbert Alexander) who predates her. They only worked together for one year after which Alexander was replaced by Carlton Hoste for the remainder of the time that Mrs. Harold worked there. The school's attendance ranged from 19 to 26 students. In 1947 Mrs. Catlin would leave Mud Mills to teach in Newark; she would be replaced by Mrs. Helen Shorthall Roemer. Who would remain there until the school officially closed in 1951.2 Voted to close in 1950, the closure was reconsidered the following year. Revisiting the closure in May 1952, led to the building not being demolished. All the Arcadia school districts centralized in 1955. The Mud Mills Schoolhouse property was sold then and the building was converted into a residence.3 General schoolhouse information: Most children started school at age 5 and immediately entered first grade as there was no kindergarten in most rural schools. A grade typically ranged from 1 student to 4 or more. There were a variety of subjects taught at the schools including, “arithmetic, reading, writing, spelling, social studies, and other basic material … per the educational law.”4 When particular subjects were to be taught for specific grades. Students that were to take part were called to the front and students in other grades kept quiet and worked on other things in other parts of the room. Once a week, an afternoon would be dedicated to Bible studies with Miss Van Dusen. Miss Van Dusen used figures and a felt board depicting characters from different bible stories. She would also give out prizes occasionally for perfect attendance or for learning a specific number of verses from a book and chapter of the bible. There was also a recess period in which the students could play and eat. Each of the schools were heated by a wood or coal stove, which was the first thing the teacher would tend to when they arrived at the school. These stoves were also used to dry winter clothes. Historical narrative written and compiled by John Trutt | |||||
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. "Arcadia [Township]; Arcadia Business Notices; New Ark Business Notices; Fairville [Village]; Newark [Village]" New York Public Library Digital Collections.
1Sorah Devlin, “Joyce Ann Derue,” Finger Lakes Daily News (Finger Lakes Daily News, March 30, 2018),
2Rue, Joyce De. “Rural Schools - a Thing of the Past.” The Courier-Gazette. September 1, 1983.
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