Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Education

Location

NY-206, Roscoe, NY 12776, USA

Lat/Long

41.974398, -74.895596

Grant Recipient

Roscoe Free Llibrary

Before the widespread centralization of schools, one room schoolhouses were common sights across rural communities. Over the years, several schoolhouses served the Town of Colchester, NY, including District No. 14 Schoolhouse. Originally District No. 14 was located on Morton Hill Road. Over the years school district boundaries shifted, which the led to the construction of a new schoolhouse. Built around 1890, along the State Road (now known as New York State Route 206), and adjacent to Springbrook Creek, the District No. 14 School, aka the Springbrook Schoolhouse, educated local children for nearly 40 years before its closure. The centralization of area schools was the main cause. According to a May 21, 1937 edition of the Catskill Mountain News, a vote was taken to determine if the schools should combine:

At an election last week Roscoe voted for a central school system 500 to 160.

The vote was overwhelmingly clear. A short time later, students were moved to the new Roscoe Central School, which was formally dedicated on Wednesday October 23, 1940.

As of 2021, the old Springbrook schoolhouse building still stood.