Chelsea Grammar School
Encyclopedia
The former Chelsea Grammar School is located on Liberty Street in Chelsea
, New York
, United States
. It is an intact one-room school
house from the late 19th century, when the hamlet was a thriving Hudson River
port.
In 1987 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places
since it has remained largely intact since its construction. Its use as a school ended in the mid-20th century when the smaller local school districts of the area were consolidated into the Wappinger Central School District. Since then, the local fire department
has used half of it as a community center, and the United States Postal Service
has leased the other half for use as the local post office
, serving the 12512 ZIP Code
.
d roof covered in asphalt
shingles
. It is pierced at the east (front) end by a square frame
bell tower
with paired arched louver
ed vents on all four sides. The roof overhangs the walls with a broad fascia
; there is no other attempt at ornament
.
On the front facade
, the entranceway's segmented and hooded openings are flanked by two windows with arch
ed heads and corbel
ed brick hoods. A marble
datestone
with "1875" on it is set into the gable side above the entrance, and a louvered oculus
is near the apex.
Both sides have four tall and narrow window openings, now filled with louvers. All are topped with a corbeled and segmented brick lintel and have a stone
sill beneath. There are two similar windows in the rear, as well as a newer one, and an enclosed entranceway.
Inside, it retains many of its classroom features, including the blackboard
s. It has been partitioned since then for its use as a post office.
roofs of neighboring St. Mark's Episcopal Church, built in the mid-1860s in the same style. The placement of the two buildings, on a rise in the middle of the community overlooking the river that was its commercial lifeblood, reflected their importance within Chelsea.
A few changes have been made since its construction, most since its use as a school ended. The original front doors have been replaced with metallic fire door
s. A window has been added to the rear along with an enclosed entryway and a shed built in the rear. When the post office came in, the side windows were louvered shut.
Chelsea, Dutchess County, New York
Chelsea is an unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Wappinger in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is located on the Hudson River in the southwestern corner of the town. It takes the ZIP Code 12512 and is in the 845 telephone area code, and has its own fire district.It is a small...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is an intact one-room school
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
house from the late 19th century, when the hamlet was a thriving Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
port.
In 1987 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
since it has remained largely intact since its construction. Its use as a school ended in the mid-20th century when the smaller local school districts of the area were consolidated into the Wappinger Central School District. Since then, the local fire department
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
has used half of it as a community center, and the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
has leased the other half for use as the local post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, serving the 12512 ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
.
Building
The building is a one-story rectangular brick building with a gableGable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof covered in asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
shingles
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
. It is pierced at the east (front) end by a square frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
with paired arched louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
ed vents on all four sides. The roof overhangs the walls with a broad fascia
Fascia
A fascia is a layer of fibrous tissue that permeates the human body. A fascia is a connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding those structures together in much the same manner as plastic wrap can be used to hold the contents of sandwiches...
; there is no other attempt at ornament
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
.
On the front facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, the entranceway's segmented and hooded openings are flanked by two windows with arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
ed heads and corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
ed brick hoods. A marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
datestone
Datestone
A datestone is typically an embedded stone with the date of engraving and other information carved into it. They are not considered a very reliable source for dating a house, as instances of old houses being destroyed and rebuilt have been reported.Specific locations have often been chosen for...
with "1875" on it is set into the gable side above the entrance, and a louvered oculus
Oculus
An Oculus, circular window, or rain-hole is a feature of Classical architecture since the 16th century. They are often denoted by their French name, oeil de boeuf, or "bull's-eye". Such circular or oval windows express the presence of a mezzanine on a building's façade without competing for...
is near the apex.
Both sides have four tall and narrow window openings, now filled with louvers. All are topped with a corbeled and segmented brick lintel and have a stone
Stonemasonry
The craft of stonemasonry has existed since the dawn of civilization - creating buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone from the earth. These materials have been used to construct many of the long-lasting, ancient monuments, artifacts, cathedrals, and cities in a wide variety of cultures...
sill beneath. There are two similar windows in the rear, as well as a newer one, and an enclosed entranceway.
Inside, it retains many of its classroom features, including the blackboard
Blackboard
A chalkboard is a reusable writing surface.Blackboard may also refer to:* Blackboards are synonymous with "boards of infamy", an element of agitation-propaganda in the Soviet Union in 1930s, coincidental with Holodomor...
s. It has been partitioned since then for its use as a post office.
History
An 1858 map of the Chelsea area shows an earlier school on the same site. When the new one was built, the Gothic Revival style echoed the steeply-pitchedRoof pitch
In building construction, roof pitch is a numerical measure of the steepness of a roof, and a pitched roof is a roof that is steep.The roof's pitch is the measured vertical rise divided by the measured horizontal span, the same thing as what is called "slope" in geometry. Roof pitch is typically...
roofs of neighboring St. Mark's Episcopal Church, built in the mid-1860s in the same style. The placement of the two buildings, on a rise in the middle of the community overlooking the river that was its commercial lifeblood, reflected their importance within Chelsea.
A few changes have been made since its construction, most since its use as a school ended. The original front doors have been replaced with metallic fire door
Fire door
A fire door is a door with a fire-resistance rating used as part of a passive fire protection system to reduce the spread of fire or smoke between compartments and to enable safe egress from a building or structure or ship...
s. A window has been added to the rear along with an enclosed entryway and a shed built in the rear. When the post office came in, the side windows were louvered shut.