About us1858… the old section of Amenia along Mygatt Road needed a schoolhouse. A small barn was donated to the newly created School District 3. Blackboards were installed, a woodstove, desks and windows were added, and a teacher was hired. The children learned their ABCs there until 1927 when all the “common schools” of the area were centralized in the towns of Amenia and Millerton. After the children left, it was used again as a barn or just stood empty.
In 2001, volunteers from the community including the Amenia Lions Club and the fire company, Maplebrook School, teachers from the Webutuck Schools, neighbors, friends and history buffs formed the Webutuck Country Schoolhouse Association. They named the little building “Indian Rock” after a nearby landmark. The goals were to maintain the building, provide learning programs about local history for all age groups and be a special place to remember the past…while having some good country fun at picnics and ice cream socials. On Arbor Day, the first and second graders plant trees, vegetables, herbs and flowers. The third grade comes for a day of “history immersion”, visiting the nearby early cemetery, learning in the schoolhouse, games and old-fashioned skills. Senior groups and visitors enjoy a picnic or help in one of the three gardens in the schoolyard. Interested in visiting Indian Rock? Click here for directions For more information on the early days of Indian Rock School, see page 24 of the book, Memories from a Country Schoolhouse by John Quinn. |
VOLUNTEERIf you are interested in volunteering your time to the Indian Rock Schoolhouse, please Email Us
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