CONTACT

Heather Heddleson
Town Historian

845-336-8853 ext.120

EMAIL HEATHER

HOURS
By Appointment

Town History

OTHER PAGES

Bluestone Industry

Businesses

Highway Dept.

Our Veterans

Sawkill Fire Co.

Schools in the Town

Siemsen Tribute

St. Ann's Church

Sweet Meadows

Tales of the Town

SCHOOLS IN THE TOWN

The Jockey Hill School District 2 was formed in 1865.  It was said that a teacher by the name of Ford was so cruel to the children that they and their parents tried unsuccessfully to have him fired.  The children wrote a poem and egged Myron Gaddis to recite it to the school trustee.  It went:

Lord of love, look down

Upon us poor scholars. 

They hired a fool,

To teach the Jockey Hill School

And paid him fifty dollars.”

When this had no effect on the trustee, Mr. Brophy, the parents held a secret meeting.  Mr. Brophy was voted out and a new trustee elected.  The new trustee discharged Mr. Ford and hired a new teacher.  The salary for a teacher in Sawkill in 1897 was $143.26 a year.

In 1879 the town lines changed and Jockey Hill became District 1.  Between 1921 and 1922 a new school (Sawkill School) was built because the Jockey Hill School was destroyed by fire.  The Sawkill School stood behind the present town hall.  It was used as a one-room school house until January 1960 when the classes were merged into the Kingston Consolidated School System.  The Dutch Hill School was formed on January 30, 1872.  It was located on the Rt. 28 area side of Morey Hill Road.  The Stony Hollow School was located near the railroad tracks on Rt. 28A.  It closed in 1954.  The Lower Sawkill School known as Brabant was located near the Anthony Cruise Bridge and Heritage Energy.  All were closed by 1960.

The Sawkill School was given to the town by the school district to be used as a town hall.  Modifications were made in 1963 to accommodate office staff.  It served in this capacity until August 2010 when it was finally demolished due to structural problems.  A new town hall was built close to where the old schoolhouse once stood.