The
earliest education movement in Middle Island is reported in
1800. When Mr. Hubbard "frequently taught social and business
meetings." This is supposed to have been the beginning of the
first school. The Rev. Ezra King also taught pupils at his home
on the corner opposite the church.
When the
town was divided into School districts in 1813 this district
was formed as No. 11, "to embrace the inhabitants of the North
part of Middleton and Swezeytown." During the early years the
district was known as "Middle Island Church District No. 11." On
October 24, 1842, it was changed to District No. 16 and has been
so known since that time.
The school
census of 1818 reported 72 children of school age which was then
5 to 15 years. As most of these early school buildings were not
over 20 by 24 feet in size it may be wondered how so many
children could be accommodated in one room. This is explained by
the custom of the older pupils attending school during the
winter months when the farm work was slack and the smaller
children coming during the spring and fall when the weather was
good. In this way probably no more than one half the total
number registered attended at one time.
A high
slanting desk was attached to the wall and extended around the
sides and end of the room, at which the pupils had to stand in
order to use it. For seats sawed slabs from the local mill, with
two legs at each end were used. These of course had no back.
Heat was furnished in the first years by a fireplace at one end
of the room and in later years by a stove with a long firebox
that took in a large chunk of wood and threw out lots of heat.
Plenty of heat was needed to offset the cracks around the side
of the building.
School was
usually held eight or nine months of the year, and the monthly
pay of the teacher in those days was about $8 to $9 dollars
which also probably included board as the custom of "boarding
around" prevailed at the time.
Among the
heads of families residing in the present limits of this
district in 1818 were the following: Albert S. Davis, Sylvanus
Overton, Isaac Hulse, John Buckingham, Daniel Overton, Israel
Smith, Daniel Petty, Lewis Ritch, Isaac Gerard, George Brown,
Gershom Overton, Benjamin Hallock, William Swezey, Nathaniel
Hudson, John Hudson, Daniel Woodhull, James Swezey, Stephen
Swezey and Jonathan Edwards.
The old
schoolhouse was abandoned in 1914, after having served its
purpose well for hundred years and a new one was built in that
year a short distance north on the Swezey town road. This was an
up-to-date building containing one classroom. Which was
sufficient for the needs of the district at that time. No great
bond issue was sold to finance the construction of this building
as it was built and paid for in one year. The old building was
sold to Daniel R. Davis of Coram who moved it to his farm for as
a tenant house. Several years later it burned down.
About five
years ago the school was closed by a vote of the district and
all the pupils were sent to school in Port Jefferson by bus.
During the summer of 1947 the present building and land was
sold at auction and purchased by Christian Krabbe for $3,200,
which was about three times the original cost in 1914. At the
present time the district has no building and owns no property
although the school population is growing rapidly caused by the
growth of the Gordon Heights development.
According to a report in the Advance of April 14, 1877, the
number of children of school age in the district in that year
was 46, and the daily average attendance was 17, the salary paid
of that teacher for that year was $112.36 and $1.55 was allowed
for library purposes. In 1947 $13,710 was raised by the district
for tuition and bus transportation of the pupils to the school
at Port Jefferson which is more than it cost to run all the
schools in Brookhaven town in 1877.