East Chatham, N.Y., recently celebrated a milestone five years in the making. Restoration of its landmark 1830 Red Rock Schoolhouse is complete. The building now has a new life as an education center, providing insights into the town’s cultural and architectural history.
The multi-year restoration received annual support from two BTCF endowed area funds: the Fund for Columbia County and the Quailwood Fund. Led by volunteer committees of residents with local knowledge, area funds support nonprofits that sustain communities and respond to emerging needs.
Local resident Virginia Nightingale is president of the Red Rock Historical Society (RRHS) and serves on Quailwood’s advisory committee. She describes the restored schoolhouse as a source of pride for the community, noting that it is seen as integral to the town’s identity and an important connection to its past.
The building is one of only five schoolhouses remaining in Columbia County that have not been converted to private use. From the 18th through the 20th centuries, approximately 100 one-room schoolhouses served rural communities in the county.
The Red Rock building also holds the distinction of having a rare barrel-vaulted ceiling, one of only three known schoolhouses across the nation with this architectural feature.
1945 was the building’s final year as a public school. It had a few private owners. In 2001, the Endreson family ceded it to the historical society, along with 2 acres of adjacent land. Unfortunately, funds did not exist to restore it to its original state. “For 20 more years, it was locked up, sadly deteriorating,” Nightingale says.
In 2020, during the pandemic, people started looking for meaningful ways to spend "newfound free time,” Nightingale says. The historical society decided that this was the moment to launch a campaign to preserve a cornerstone of the town’s story.
In partnership with RRHS, community members formed the Friends of Red Rock Schoolhouse Committee. Over the next five years, they raised funds, secured grants, made personal donations, and volunteered their time.
Skilled trades professionals, working with volunteers, restored or replicated historic details of the building and made it safe. The building received a new foundation and floor. Original benches, still intact, were refurbished. A 1900 Glenwood stove, and desks true to the period, were installed. Dilapidated windows were replaced with 19th-century reproductions.
The town’s collective dedication paid off. In 2022, the schoolhouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior. It has also been listed in the New York State Historic Register. In October of last year, the public was invited to tour the property.
Special programs will begin in May of 2026 and continue through the warmer months. “We will host groups of young people from various organizations (4-H, Scouts, etc.), for a one-hour program that demonstrates student life of the 1800s,” Nightingale shares. “We will have quill pens, parchment, old texts, slates, chalk, and old maps. We will tell stories about how the typical school day was, including the mix of ages among the 10-15 students, bringing in firewood, using an outhouse, and the long walk to school!”
In addition to youth programs, RRHS will host events geared toward adults. They also plan to extend ‘the classroom’ to the two acres of land behind the school by constructing a nature walk.
