Present day photo of the Potter Hollow School House - after restoration made possible by the Greenville Education Foundation.

Constructed in 1853, the Potter Hollow School House was once one of 24 one-room school houses in the Town of Rensselaerville. Located in Potter Hollow, New York it's a 1.5 story building constructed in a rectangular timber frame, and restored with local materials thanks to the Greenville Educational Foundation. The school closed its doors in 1954. Greenville Central School District, established in 1930, currently owns the school house and uses it to give students a glimpse into the values of education in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Potter Hollow School House originally served students in Grades 1-8. After 8th grade students, could select the high school they attended. In an excerpt from Linda Reed Mormile's Memories of attending Potter Hollow, written in 2005, she says "The front of the school had a coal bin on one side and a place for muddy boots and the water container on the other side - sort of like a front hall set-up with closets on either side. Only instead of closets, one side had the coal (later wood I think) bin and the other had the bench with the water cooler behind or next to that was the (inside) outhouse. The blackboards were behind the teacher’s desk and in the back was a stove and hooks in one corner to hang your coats. They were numbered or had our names on them or something because we always used the same spot. There was also some sort of bench there (attached to the wall) to sit on while you took off your boots. The desks closest to the front (to the teacher’s desk) seemed bigger and that is where each group moved to for their grade’s lesson. Then that class would go to the back of the room and the next grade would go to the front."

Use the resources below to learn more about the Potter Hollow School House.