Webutuck Elementary School students visit one-room Indian Rock Schoolhouse

Webutuck Elementary School students visit one-room Indian Rock Schoolhouse

The 19th-century one-room school experience came alive for Third Grade students from Webutuck Elementary School during their annual visit to the Indian Rock Schoolhouse in Amenia on Friday, May 31. Webutuck librarian Elizabeth Murphy authentically portrayed the schoolmarm.

Leila Hawken

AMENIA — Eager to experience the supreme authority of the schoolmarm and the possible embarrassment of a dunce cap, students from Webutuck Elementary School’s Grades 2 and 3 paid their annual visit to the Indian Rock Schoolhouse in Amenia on Friday, May 31.

First came the third graders to settle into hard wooden benches, after bowing or curtsying to the schoolmarm. They sat up straight, faced forward and paid attention to schoolmarm Elizabeth Murphy, Webutuck librarian, who provided facts about daily life and lessons in a one-room schoolhouse.

Murphy serves as school librarian and is also a past president of the Indian Rock Schoolhouse Association that was formed in 2001. Her goal as schoolmarm for the day was to show the students what school was like in the 1850s, she said.

“I’m the only one left from the beginning of the project to save the schoolhouse and establish it as a local historic landmark,” Murphy said, as she prepared to greet the two classes. The schoolhouse continued in use until 1927.

With schoolmarm Murphy in charge, a few children were selected to sit on the dunce stool and wear the traditional cap, probably with broader smiles than would have been characteristic of their counterparts in times past.

Children were invited to imagine school with no running water, drinking water scooped from the nearby brook, no electricity, light from a single kerosene lamp, no transportation, neither books nor paper, but slates and chalk, and strictly disciplined behavior.

Murphy explained that schoolmarms in the 19th century would not have been allowed to be married. If they were married, their place would have been at home helping with the farm and raising the children who would have attended the school.

Following the schoolhouse experience, students were released to the outdoors to enjoy historic games and help with planting flowers to beautify the site for the summer.

The second graders would arrive at noon.

In order to be called a museum, the Indian Rock Schoolhouse must be used by children at least once a year. This annual visit serves the purpose and provides an enriching experience for the Webutuck students.

Latest News

Amenia board honors employees for service

Long-term town employees were recognized at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, June 12. Honorees pictured with Town Supervisor Leo Blackman, were Judy Carlson, Office Manager at the Town Garage, center, for her 35 years of service to the town and Megan Chamberlin, current Highway Superintendent, for 20 years.

Leila Hawken

AMENIA — Acknowledging the many years of service accumulated by town employees, the Town Board paused to honor that service at its meeting on Thursday, June 12.

“Thank you for making a difference,” said Town Supervisor Leo Blackman in recognizing Judy Carlson, Office Manager at the town garage, for her 35 years of service.

Keep ReadingShow less
Historic marker dedicated at Amenia Union Cemetery

In anticipation of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution in 2026, new historic markers are appearing at each of the local cemeteries where Revolutionary War veterans are buried. Unveiling the new marker at Amenia Union Cemetery on Saturday, June 21, were left to right, Town Historian Betsy Strauss, Jim Middlebrook representing the regional chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and Gail Seymour, President of the Union Cemetery Association.

Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — One by one, new historic markers are appearing at local cemeteries where Revolutionary War dead are buried. On Saturday, June 21, community members gathered to see a new marker unveiled at Amenia Union Cemetery on Leedsville Road.

A tent provided welcome shade for the attendees and refreshments as about 30 residents gathered for the unveiling and to share stories of local history with one another.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton Street Fair celebration June 28

Bee Bee the clown, face painters and a community wide scavenger hunt are among the activities planned for the Millerton Street Fair in Downtown Millerton on Saturday, June 28.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLERTON — The Millerton News, in partnership with the North East Community Center (NECC) and the Millerton Business Alliance, is hosting its first Street Fair on Saturday in a celebration of the town.

Rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, the fair will bring together local nonprofits and businesses, with live music, entertainment, kids’ activities, local eats, and family fun in Veterans Park, in front of the Millerton Inn, and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millbrook Historical Society announces summer Quaker lecture series

The Nine Partners Road Quaker Meetinghouse, built in 1780, will be the site of two summer lectures sponsored by the Millbrook Historical Society.

Photo by Leila Hawken

MILLBROOK — Long in the planning, the Millbrook Historical Society has announced that it is sponsoring two lectures in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Both lectures relating to Quaker history are to be held in the historic Quaker Meeting House on Nine Partners Road.

For the first talk, scheduled for Sunday, June 29, at 2 p.m., the historical society has invited Sarah Gronningsater, Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, to talk on “Quakers, Anti-slavery, and the American Revolution.” The topic will explore the role that New York’s Quakers, especially in the Hudson Valley, played in the rise of the anti-slavery movement that followed the American Revolution.

Keep ReadingShow less