8March2009

Cambridge and its Schools – 1860

1. The Cambridge_1860 photo shows the streets and houses in Cambridge Corners (West End) and North White Creek (East End) in 1860, six years before the communities united to form the village of Cambridge. Notice there was no Avenue A or B or Grove Street. When Grove Street was first created it was where Avenue B is today. Notice St Luke’s church wasn’t built yet so that street was Pearl Street. Sure makes it difficult to trace the history of your house in Cambridge. To make house research even more difficult, in October 1954 the Post Office renumbered all the houses, in many cases moving the even/odd numbering. My house on the north side of East Main was switched from number 26 to number 39.

2. The Academy_SUnion_1860 photo shows Cambridge Washington Academy and the Academy Building located on the west side of Academy Street near West Main. The Academy opened in 1815. The Academy Building was home of the Headmaster and sometimes served as housing for some out-of-the-area students. Richard Farrell’s house, the large blue/white building on north side of West Main just west of Academy Street, was known as the Boarding House. I’m told it was affiliated with the Coila Presbyterian Church but also served a brief stint as housing for the academy. The photo also shows Cambridge One-Room Schoolhouse No. 10 located about half-way down Academy Street on the east side. A small road (School Street) once connected Academy Street and South Union at this location. Notice the small Union Hotel on the north side of West Main just west of North Union. This is the first Union Hotel. The larger, fancy Union Hotel, that we all recognize from old postcards, was built on the same spot in 1885 as part of the Great Hotel Race of 1885 (The East End won the race as the Cambridge Hotel was completed one month before the West End completed the new Union Hotel).

3. The EMain_NPark_1860 photo shows Cambridge One-Room Schoolhouse No. 1 on west side of North Park almost across from Madison Street. Notice the United Presbyterian church was still what we knew as the Grange Hall. The “new” U.P. church was built on the park in 1872. The two large, dotted parcels on the west side of South Park are the site of the Putnam Institute (estate of John P Putnam) which served as school for the East End from 1872 to 1891. In 1891, the Cambridge Union Free School was built (what we all call the Old School).

By the way, when Cambridge Central School was built in 1950 it was christened Cambridge Central School District No 10. Based on the old maps, it appears the school is located in the old District No 1. My guess is they agreed to name it District No 10 to appease the West Enders who were upset that the school was being built on the East End.

Interested in Getting a Closer Look at the 1860 Map?

A high-resolution copy of the Cambridge_1860 map is available if you would like a copy. It will be emailed to you in a zipped file at about 1 mg in size.

Please email Pauline for a copy.

Even Demolition of Old School is Costly
The CCS BOE continues to look into alternatives for the Old School. Unfortunately, each of the options is very expensive.The following article is reproduced here thanks to the continued support of The Eagle.

We're Number One ... Well, We're in the Top Ten
On a positive note, at the bottom of the article Superintendent Dan Severson '60 reported that CCS was selected as one of the Top Ten high-performing schools in NYS, a model to be emulated by others. The CCS case study is available online at http://www.albany.edu/aire/kids/case_high.html. Also, be sure to check out the comparison report at http://www.albany.edu/aire/pdf/HighSchoolReport.pdf. In the comparison, you'll be amazed at how well CCS ranked especially when you look at the PPE column (district expenditures per pupil).

You may want to download the comparison report and CCS case study and post on the CCS Indians web site