Photos and other materials documenting the Cooks Corners Schoolhouse (Pierrepont, NY), which TAUNY recognized as a Very Special Place in 2015.

Like scores of other one room schoolhouses that were closed due to the centralization of rural school districts in the mid-Twentieth Century, Cooks Corners could well have been transformed into a family home, a retail shop or, more likely, torn down. Instead, the dozen or so families who lived in the district organized a community club and chose the schoolhouse for a meeting room. With no church or other public building in the neighborhood, old-timers recall that the schoolhouse has occasionally been the site of bridal showers, weddings, family reunions, and even a funeral or two. During recent years, 4-H Club activities, group picnics, ice cream socials, pedro card parties, and a Christmas memory tree dedication have been among the community events that bring families and friends together. While new residents of the community are welcome, it is rather remarkable that most of the old families who trace their roots to attendance at the school a century ago are still actively involved. It is not uncommon to see four generations represented at today’s schoolhouse events.