History enthusiasts will have a chance to step back into a bygone era later this month when the Midlakes One-Room Schoolhouse opens its doors as part of a regional tour highlighting some of the Finger Lakes’ best-preserved historic school buildings.
The Clifton Springs landmark will be among four schoolhouses featured during the “Fine, Finer and Finest Schools of the Finger Lakes” tour from 1 to 4 p.m. on June 21. The open house event is part of the National Schoolhouse Conference, hosted by the Country School Association of America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving historic rural schoolhouses.
The Midlakes schoolhouse will be joined on the tour by the Ansley School House in Geneva, the Benton School House in Penn Yan and the Overackers Corners School House in Rushville. Conference activities will also include a presentation at Hobart and William Smith Colleges by Charles Burrall, author of “Captured by the Russians,” who attended Geneva’s last one-room schoolhouse before it closed.
Burrall’s appearance will include reflections on his years as a student in the historic schoolhouse overlooking Glass Factory Bay. Members of the Midlakes One-Room Schoolhouse Committee plan to conduct an interview with Burrall while he is visiting the region.
The Midlakes One-Room Schoolhouse was originally built in 1928 at the intersection of Route 96 and County Road 7. Students in grades one through eight attended classes there until school centralization efforts in the mid-1940s led families to enroll children in schools in Clifton Springs or Manchester.
After its closure, the building was moved to the Manchester Town Hall complex and used primarily for storage. That changed in 2008 when the Midlakes One-Room Schoolhouse Committee partnered with the Town of Manchester and the Phelps-Clifton Springs Central School District to preserve and restore the structure.
Following months of fundraising and planning, the schoolhouse was relocated to the Midlakes campus in August 2009. Students from Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES carpentry programs, local businesses and volunteers helped restore the building before it officially reopened during a dedication ceremony in May 2010.
Today, the schoolhouse serves as a living history classroom where students experience period-style lessons that reflect what education looked like nearly a century ago. The building is used by Midlakes students and is also available for educational visits from other school districts and community organizations.
Organizers say the June 21 open house will provide visitors an opportunity to explore the restored schoolhouse and learn more about the role one-room schools played in the educational and cultural history of the Finger Lakes region.
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