Cobblestone Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Cobblestone Historic District is located along state highway
NY 104
in Childs
, New York, United States. It comprises three buildings that exemplify the cobblestone architecture
developed to a high degree in the regions of upstate New York
near Lake Ontario
and exported to other areas with settlers.
The buildings are in the Federal and Greek Revival
styles
typical of their era. Later renovations gave them some touches of styles from later in the 19th century, such as Italianate
and Gothic Revival; however they remain largely intact in their original designs. They are currently owned by the Cobblestone Society, which has restored
and preserved
them since the 1960s.
Currently the largest building, a former Universalist church that is the oldest cobblestone church in the state, is used as a museum. Another building, a school, is one of only two that use the cobblestones as an outer veneer
. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places
as a National Historic Landmark
in 1993. At less than an acre in total area it is the smallest National Historic Landmark District in the state.
, three miles (4.8 km) north of Albion, the Orleans County
seat
, in the Town of Gaines
. The terrain is generally level along Route 104, the top of the long rise of the Niagara Escarpment
the former Ridge Road followed, with the land gently rising to it from both north and south. The surrounding area of the hamlet of Childs has light development, mostly residential, along the two highways near the intersection. Some of the other buildings are also of cobblestone but are not included in the district. Beyond the hamlet the area is rural, with cultivated fields and woodlot
s.
Immediately adjacent to a modern gas station at the northeast is the first of the two parcels, containing the church and Ward House, its onetime parsonage. The school is located approximately a half-mile (1 km) down the road to the east, on the other parcel. Between the two are other buildings, mostly houses, some of cobblestone themselves. All three buildings are contributing properties
to the district.
and Monroe
counties to the east. The English mason
s who worked on the Erie Canal
are believed to have pioneered the technique, borrowing from Roman
building traditions
still followed in Britain. Local farmers of means in the counties along the Lake Ontario
shore had houses built of cobblestone in the Federal and Greek Revival
architectural style
s.
John Proctor, a successful real estate
speculator who had made money in Massachusetts
and Vermont
as well as elsewhere in New York, bought the Childs area in the 1820s and planned
the village, subdividing it into lots. He was determined that a church should be the focal point of the village, so he bought back the current lot and had the church built there in 1834. He owned the land on which the neighboring parsonage and the District 5 School were both built, later selling them to the church and school district respectively.
The three buildings show the evolution of cobblestone technique. The church, the oldest, uses regular field cobbles with minimal mortar decoration. The Ward House has the stones arranged in a pattern, the depressed hexagon known as the Gaines
Pattern after another small community to the west along Route 104. The school, built last, uses small lake-washed stones as a veneer
. It is one of only two cobblestone buildings in the state which are known to have a cobblestone veneer over wood frame
.
In 1874 the church was renovated. The terrace was added outside and the inside redecorated and reconfigured so that the pews were turned around to face the new location of the pulpit in the rear, most of their doors removed, and the center gallery removed. The pews themselves, originally painted white, were grained
at this time. The parsonage's original front door was replaced as well. Later the rear wing was built.
Some Americans who later became significant historical personages lived in or near the future district during the 19th century. George Pullman
lived there as a teenager, learning cabinetry from his father. He worshipped at the church, which remained the main Universalist church in the area until he endowed a new one in the village of Albion near the county courthouse
in 1894. Newspaper editor Horace Greeley
's aunt and uncle, whom he occasionally visited, lived in the Ward House. For a while he even held the mortgage on it.
The church fell into disuse for much of the 20th century, but has hosted summer "country" services twice a year since 1971. Its tower was removed in 1919. After its northwest corner was patched with brick following some settling around 1910, the school was closed in 1952 as the local school districts modernized and consolidated.
In 1961 the Cobblestone Society, established the year before, bought it for $129, Two years later it acquired the church as well. In 1966 an architect working from photos of the original tower designed an exact copy as a replacement, and it was installed. The parsonage came into the society's possession in 1975, when Ynez Ward, for whom it would be named, sold it to the society.
d roof, quoin
ed at the corners and topped by a square wooden tower with corner pilaster
s, and wooden front pediment
. The front cobblestones are more finely graded than those on the sides, with some tooling evident in the interstitial mortar
. A stone terrace
in front is floored in brick capped with sandstone
coping
. Brick also frames a marble
tablet over the front door that reads: "Erected by the First Universalist Society A D 1834 GOD IS LOVE".
On the inside the lobby has stairs to the gallery, with delicate square newel
s topped by spherical finial
s, on each side. At the rear of the church is a 12 by platform with a walnut
pulpit
and three matching Gothic Revival pulpit chairs in front of a trompe l'œil painting of an alcove. Italianate
detailing is evident in the pillars and balustrade of the choir loft. The woodwork has been meticulously grained
by the same local painter who did the rear wall painting.
Federal style one-story building with a raised basement giving the effect of a ground floor. The 18 by main block is sided in cobblestone applied more carefully than that on the church. On the east and west sides of the ground level the field cobbles are set in the Gaines Pattern, in which each is part of a small hexagonal box. Quoins of Medina
sandstone
mark the corners.
On the northwest the house has a small frame wing, sided in vertical tongue and groove
, added later, with a porch on the west side. Its roof is supported with a Colonial Revival
fluted
column. The addition itself has a shed roof.
An Italianate
door with two original stained glass
windows leads into a first floor with Federal door and window casings on long, narrow Greek Revival doors. The walls are plastered directly onto the masonry. Furniture and decor reflect the 1880s.
d building topped by an open belfry
with louver
ed vents and domed roof at the south (front) end. Its predominately lake-washed brown cobblestones are different from the other two buildings in that they are a decorative veneer
on a wood frame structure. Only one other cobblestone building in New York, another residence in Gaines, is known to use cobblestone this way. At the northwest corner some brick was used when repairs were necessary.
The cobblestones are arranged tightly, four rows per corner quoin on the front and sides and three in the rear. A sandstone water table
runs around the building at floor level, above the fieldstone foundation
. At the roofline is a wide wooden molded
frieze
with returns. The windows have plain stone trim. In the front center are two separate doors, for boys and girls, similarly treated, with small stone steps. Above them is a marble tablet reading "School District No 5 of Gaines A D 1849 Wm. J. Babbitt Esq. gratuitously superintended the erection of the building and made the district a present of the bell". It is topped with an unusual attic gable-field window.
Inside, the recessed-paneled wooden doors open into separate cloakrooms 10 feet (3.3 m) square. Both have horizontal tongue-and-groove wainscoting and plaster upper walls. The ceilings, like all in the school, are tongue-and-groove random-width plank. The boys' cloakroom has the cellar door, and a rope to ring the bell.
In the classroom, the maple flooring is inclined so students in the northern portion, the rear, were sitting higher than those in the front. Its walls have a similar treatment to the cloakrooms. Original blackboards are still in place, supplemented by slate boards added to the side walls later. Behind the teacher's desk is a cupboard
and niche for a clock. The heating system of two trapdoors to the ceiling operated by a rope remains as well.
to protect the district. All three buildings are property of the Cobblestone Society, founded when 60 people met at the church in 1960 to discuss how to best preserve
them. In addition to the three in the district, it also runs five other buildings in the vicinity, part of the museum complex, representing life in Childs at the time the cobblestone buildings were built. It also works to preserve cobblestone buildings elsewhere in the county.
The society also operates a gift shop
in one of the buildings, and gives tours. It has also made the church available for weddings. Money earned from these endeavors has helped it restore
the buildings and give demonstrations of cobblestone masonry techniques.
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
NY 104
New York State Route 104
New York State Route 104 is a long east–west state highway in Upstate New York, United States. It spans six counties and enters the vicinity of four cities—Niagara Falls, Lockport, Rochester, and Oswego—as it follows a routing largely parallel to that of the southern shoreline of Lake...
in Childs
Childs, New York
Childs, New York is an unincorporated hamlet in the town of Gaines in Orleans County, New York, USA. It is named after Judge Henry Childs and previously known as "Proctor's Corners" and "Fair Haven." It is the location of the Cobblestone Historic District that was listed on the National Register of...
, New York, United States. It comprises three buildings that exemplify the cobblestone architecture
Cobblestone architecture
Cobblestone architecture refers to the use of cobblestones embedded in mortar as method for erecting walls on houses and commercial buildings.-History:Evidence of the use of cobblestones in building has been found in the ruins of Hierakonpolis...
developed to a high degree in the regions of upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
near Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
and exported to other areas with settlers.
The buildings are in the Federal and Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
styles
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
typical of their era. Later renovations gave them some touches of styles from later in the 19th century, such as Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
and Gothic Revival; however they remain largely intact in their original designs. They are currently owned by the Cobblestone Society, which has restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
and preserved
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
them since the 1960s.
Currently the largest building, a former Universalist church that is the oldest cobblestone church in the state, is used as a museum. Another building, a school, is one of only two that use the cobblestones as an outer veneer
Veneer
A veneer is a thin covering over another surface. More specifically, it may refer to:* Wood veneer, a term used in architecture and woodworking...
. The district 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...
as a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1993. At less than an acre in total area it is the smallest National Historic Landmark District in the state.
Geography
The district consists of three buildings — a church, its parsonage and a former school building — in two separate parcels totaling 0.9 acres (3,642.2 m²). Both are located along the north side of the highway just east of its junction with NY 98New York State Route 98
New York State Route 98 is a state highway in the western part of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with U.S. Route 219 in the town of Great Valley in Cattaraugus County...
, three miles (4.8 km) north of Albion, the Orleans County
Orleans County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 44,171 people, 15,363 households, and 10,846 families residing in the county. The population density was 113 people per square mile . There were 17,347 housing units at an average density of 44 per square mile...
seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
, in the Town of Gaines
Gaines, New York
Gaines is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 3,740 at the 2000 census. The town is named after General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, who defended the area during the War of 1812....
. The terrain is generally level along Route 104, the top of the long rise of the Niagara Escarpment
Niagara Escarpment
The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...
the former Ridge Road followed, with the land gently rising to it from both north and south. The surrounding area of the hamlet of Childs has light development, mostly residential, along the two highways near the intersection. Some of the other buildings are also of cobblestone but are not included in the district. Beyond the hamlet the area is rural, with cultivated fields and woodlot
Woodlot
A woodlot is a term used in North America to refer to a segment of a woodland or forest capable of small-scale production of forest products such as wood fuel, sap for maple syrup, sawlogs, as well as recreational uses like bird watching, bushwalking, and wildflower appreciation...
s.
Immediately adjacent to a modern gas station at the northeast is the first of the two parcels, containing the church and Ward House, its onetime parsonage. The school is located approximately a half-mile (1 km) down the road to the east, on the other parcel. Between the two are other buildings, mostly houses, some of cobblestone themselves. All three buildings are contributing properties
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the district.
History
The smooth round cobblestones from the lake began to be used as a building material around 1825, in WayneWayne County, New York
Wayne County is a county located in the US state of New York. It is part of the Rochester, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area and lies on the south shore of Lake Ontario, forming part of the northern border of the United States with Canada. The name honors General Anthony Wayne, an American...
and Monroe
Monroe County, New York
Monroe County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 744,344. It is named after James Monroe, fifth President of the United States of America. Its county seat is the city of Rochester....
counties to the east. The English mason
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
s who worked on the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
are believed to have pioneered the technique, borrowing from Roman
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
building traditions
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
still followed in Britain. Local farmers of means in the counties along the Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
shore had houses built of cobblestone in the Federal and Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
s.
John Proctor, a successful real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
speculator who had made money in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
as well as elsewhere in New York, bought the Childs area in the 1820s and planned
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
the village, subdividing it into lots. He was determined that a church should be the focal point of the village, so he bought back the current lot and had the church built there in 1834. He owned the land on which the neighboring parsonage and the District 5 School were both built, later selling them to the church and school district respectively.
The three buildings show the evolution of cobblestone technique. The church, the oldest, uses regular field cobbles with minimal mortar decoration. The Ward House has the stones arranged in a pattern, the depressed hexagon known as the Gaines
Gaines, New York
Gaines is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 3,740 at the 2000 census. The town is named after General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, who defended the area during the War of 1812....
Pattern after another small community to the west along Route 104. The school, built last, uses small lake-washed stones as a veneer
Veneer
A veneer is a thin covering over another surface. More specifically, it may refer to:* Wood veneer, a term used in architecture and woodworking...
. It is one of only two cobblestone buildings in the state which are known to have a cobblestone veneer over wood frame
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
.
In 1874 the church was renovated. The terrace was added outside and the inside redecorated and reconfigured so that the pews were turned around to face the new location of the pulpit in the rear, most of their doors removed, and the center gallery removed. The pews themselves, originally painted white, were grained
Graining
Graining is the practice of imitating woodgrain on a non-wood surface in order to increase that surface's aesthetic appeal. Graining was common in the 19th century, as people were keen on imitating hard, expensive woods by applying a superficial layer of paint onto soft, inexpensive woods. Graining...
at this time. The parsonage's original front door was replaced as well. Later the rear wing was built.
Some Americans who later became significant historical personages lived in or near the future district during the 19th century. George Pullman
George Pullman
George Mortimer Pullman was an American inventor and industrialist. He is known as the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, and for violently suppressing striking workers in the company town he created, Pullman .-Background:Born in Brocton, New York, his family moved to Albion,...
lived there as a teenager, learning cabinetry from his father. He worshipped at the church, which remained the main Universalist church in the area until he endowed a new one in the village of Albion near the county courthouse
Orleans County Courthouse Historic District
The Orleans County Courthouse Historic District is one of two located in downtown Albion, New York, United States. Centered around Courthouse Square, it includes many significant buildings in the village, such as its library, post office and churches from seven different denominations, one of which...
in 1894. Newspaper editor Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
's aunt and uncle, whom he occasionally visited, lived in the Ward House. For a while he even held the mortgage on it.
The church fell into disuse for much of the 20th century, but has hosted summer "country" services twice a year since 1971. Its tower was removed in 1919. After its northwest corner was patched with brick following some settling around 1910, the school was closed in 1952 as the local school districts modernized and consolidated.
In 1961 the Cobblestone Society, established the year before, bought it for $129, Two years later it acquired the church as well. In 1966 an architect working from photos of the original tower designed an exact copy as a replacement, and it was installed. The parsonage came into the society's possession in 1975, when Ynez Ward, for whom it would be named, sold it to the society.
1834 Universalist Church
The westernmost of the three buildings in the district, the church is a three-story Federal style 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, quoin
Quoin (architecture)
Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
ed at the corners and topped by a square wooden tower with corner pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, and wooden front pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
. The front cobblestones are more finely graded than those on the sides, with some tooling evident in the interstitial mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
. A stone terrace
Terrace (building)
A terrace is an outdoor, occupiable extension of a building above ground level. Although its physical characteristics may vary to a great degree, a terrace will generally be larger than a balcony and will have an "open-top" facing the sky...
in front is floored in brick capped with sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
coping
Coping (architecture)
Coping , consists of the capping or covering of a wall.A splayed or wedge coping slopes in a single direction; a saddle coping slopes to either side of a central high point....
. Brick also frames 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...
tablet over the front door that reads: "Erected by the First Universalist Society A D 1834 GOD IS LOVE".
On the inside the lobby has stairs to the gallery, with delicate square newel
Newel
A newel, also called a central pole, is an upright post that supports the handrail of a stair banister. In stairs having straight flights it is the principal post at the foot of the staircase, but it can also be used for the intermediate posts on landings and at the top of a staircase...
s topped by spherical finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
s, on each side. At the rear of the church is a 12 by platform with a walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
and three matching Gothic Revival pulpit chairs in front of a trompe l'œil painting of an alcove. Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
detailing is evident in the pillars and balustrade of the choir loft. The woodwork has been meticulously grained
Graining
Graining is the practice of imitating woodgrain on a non-wood surface in order to increase that surface's aesthetic appeal. Graining was common in the 19th century, as people were keen on imitating hard, expensive woods by applying a superficial layer of paint onto soft, inexpensive woods. Graining...
by the same local painter who did the rear wall painting.
Ward House
Believed to have been built around 1840 as a parsonage, it is a hipped-roofedHip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
Federal style one-story building with a raised basement giving the effect of a ground floor. The 18 by main block is sided in cobblestone applied more carefully than that on the church. On the east and west sides of the ground level the field cobbles are set in the Gaines Pattern, in which each is part of a small hexagonal box. Quoins of Medina
Medina, New York
Medina is a village in the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 6,415 at the 2000 census, making it the second most populous municipality in the county after Albion, the county seat. The village was named by its surveyor...
sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
mark the corners.
On the northwest the house has a small frame wing, sided in vertical tongue and groove
Tongue and groove
A strong joint, the tongue and groove joint is widely used for re-entrant angles. The effect of wood shrinkage is concealed when the joint is beaded or otherwise moulded...
, added later, with a porch on the west side. Its roof is supported with a Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
fluted
Fluting (architecture)
Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
column. The addition itself has a shed roof.
An Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
door with two original stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows leads into a first floor with Federal door and window casings on long, narrow Greek Revival doors. The walls are plastered directly onto the masonry. Furniture and decor reflect the 1880s.
District 5 School
A half-mile (1 km) east of the other two buildings, the District 5 School is the youngest, built in 1849. It is a one-and-a-half-story Greek Revival 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 building topped by an open belfry
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 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 and domed roof at the south (front) end. Its predominately lake-washed brown cobblestones are different from the other two buildings in that they are a decorative veneer
Veneer
A veneer is a thin covering over another surface. More specifically, it may refer to:* Wood veneer, a term used in architecture and woodworking...
on a wood frame structure. Only one other cobblestone building in New York, another residence in Gaines, is known to use cobblestone this way. At the northwest corner some brick was used when repairs were necessary.
The cobblestones are arranged tightly, four rows per corner quoin on the front and sides and three in the rear. A sandstone water table
Water table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
runs around the building at floor level, above the fieldstone foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
. At the roofline is a wide wooden molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
with returns. The windows have plain stone trim. In the front center are two separate doors, for boys and girls, similarly treated, with small stone steps. Above them is a marble tablet reading "School District No 5 of Gaines A D 1849 Wm. J. Babbitt Esq. gratuitously superintended the erection of the building and made the district a present of the bell". It is topped with an unusual attic gable-field window.
Inside, the recessed-paneled wooden doors open into separate cloakrooms 10 feet (3.3 m) square. Both have horizontal tongue-and-groove wainscoting and plaster upper walls. The ceilings, like all in the school, are tongue-and-groove random-width plank. The boys' cloakroom has the cellar door, and a rope to ring the bell.
In the classroom, the maple flooring is inclined so students in the northern portion, the rear, were sitting higher than those in the front. Its walls have a similar treatment to the cloakrooms. Original blackboards are still in place, supplemented by slate boards added to the side walls later. Behind the teacher's desk is a cupboard
Cupboard
A cupboard or press is a type of cabinet, often made of wood, used indoors to store household objects such as food, crockery, textiles and liquor, and protect them from dust,vermin and dirt....
and niche for a clock. The heating system of two trapdoors to the ceiling operated by a rope remains as well.
Preservation
The town has no special zoningZoning in the United States
Zoning in the United States comprise land use state laws falling under the police power rights that State governments and local governments have the authority to exercise over privately owned real property.-Origins and history:...
to protect the district. All three buildings are property of the Cobblestone Society, founded when 60 people met at the church in 1960 to discuss how to best preserve
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
them. In addition to the three in the district, it also runs five other buildings in the vicinity, part of the museum complex, representing life in Childs at the time the cobblestone buildings were built. It also works to preserve cobblestone buildings elsewhere in the county.
The society also operates a gift shop
Gift shop
A gift shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs....
in one of the buildings, and gives tours. It has also made the church available for weddings. Money earned from these endeavors has helped it restore
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
the buildings and give demonstrations of cobblestone masonry techniques.
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in New York
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Orleans County, New York
External links
- Cobblestone Schoolhouse, Ridge Road (U.S. Route 104), Childs, Orleans County, NY: 7 photos, 2 data pages and 1 photo caption page, at Historic American Building Survey
- First Universalist Church, Ridge Road (U.S. Route 104), Childs, Orleans County, NY: 9 photos, 2 data pages and 1 photo caption page, at Historic American Building Survey
- Cobblestone Society Museum
- GEOLOGY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UPSTATE NEW YORK’S DISTINCTIVE Cobblestone Architecture