The Nelsonville Union Free School

CIRCA 1880's

From 1881 until 1936 the children of Nelsonville attended classes at the Nelsonville Union Free School.

"The Nelsonville School"

by Nelson Delanoy (History of Philipstown, Putnam County N&R 1977)

In 1880 the Gouverneur estate conveyed to George Post, Stephen Mekeel and Isaac Riggs, as Trustees of School District No. 10, a plot of ground 150 by 250 feet, for which the Trustees paid $600. With fitting ceremonies the Pear Tree Hill School finally closed it doors in June, 1881. On November 24, 1881 the Cold Spring Recorder announced that "the old school house in Nelsonville has been sold to private parties and is now occupied as a dwelling." That September the children of Nelsonville and much of Cold Spring began attending the newly constructed Nelsonville School.

7th and 8th graders in the Hickory Grove Academy

By April, 1883 the school grounds of the second Nelsonville school had been enclosed by a white picket fence, maple and evergreen trees planted, and a new lawn laid out. There were other trees on both sides of the school and in the rear. The numerous nut trees surrounding the school led many to refer to the school as "The Hickory Grove Academy." For many year s the seperate playgrounds of the boys and girls were kept that way by a board fence that ran from the back of the school down into the swamp. A large wooden outhouse stood at the back of each of these playgrounds. But the Twain shall always meet. A favorite meeting place on warm days, even after Village water had been piped from Main Street, was the school pump. A concrete slab on the west side of the school's entrance still marks the spot.

Elementary children; Hickory Grove

By 1936, however, a new modern school building was nearing completion on the old Butterfield Estate and in September of that year the Hickory Grove Academy was silent. That fall students attended classes at Haldane Central School and the old Nelsonville School was sold to the Philipstown Masonic Order. On October 23, 1937 the laying of the corner stone took place.

The Hickory Grove Academy 1880's

The last graduating class, 1936; Nelson Delanoy Principal (top-left)