Eight Square Schoolhouse

Date built: c.1827

This one-room brick school is a good example and important survivor of the octagonal form schoolhouse that was popular in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and parts of Pennsylvania from the 1770s through the 1830s. The teacher’s desk was placed at the center of the single room and the students’ desks were arranged around it. This building was used as a school until 1945 and was later acquired by the DeWitt Historical Society, now The History Center in Tompkins County. It is now used for living history education for young children and is listed on the National Register.

Learn more: thehistorycenter.net/Eight-Square

ca. 1890s. Image courtesy of The History Center in Tompkins County archival collections: V20.201.

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