Dedication ceremony to mark completion of one-room schoolhouse restoration

PORTVILLE The Portville Historical and Preservation Society will hold dedication ceremonies for its restored one-room schoolhouse at Bedford Corners at 11 a.m. Sunday, July 13.

The event, which is open to the public, will include dedication of a flag pole and brick walkway donated by members of the Portville Central School Class of 1959 (see related story) and a talk by two former students of the one-room schoolhouse.

In addition, state Sen. Catharine Young (R-Olean), who helped secure a $15,000 grant for the restoration effort, will attend the event.

Bedford Corners, land named for its Civil War-era owner, is located at the intersection of Route 305, Deer Creek and Dodge Creek roads, 1 miles north of the village of Portville.

The one-room school, built in 1864, is one of three historic buildings that make up the Bedford Corners Historic District, property deeded to the Portville Historical and Preservation Society by the late Col. Charles Eshelman, whose family had owned the land for decades. A Harvard graduate and career Army officer, Col. Eshelman was a longtime trustee of the local preservation group.

Restoration of all three buildings, the school, the former Eshelman home and a former cheese factory, each occupying separate corner lots at the intersection, is underway. Together, they will become a museum of local history.

The first project to reach completion, the one-room schoolhouse, has been a labor of love, said Cindy Keeley, president of the Historical and Preservation Society.

The building has been completely restored inside and out, she said. It has a new roof, a new heating system, new wiring, the foundation has been repaired, and its bell tower, removed in the 1920s, has been recreated. Even the old pot-bellied stove that once warmed the feet of students and their teacher has been restored.

It will be a cultural and educational center, a place where children can learn about education through the ages, said Ms. Keeley, adding the building will be ready for visits when a new school year starts in September.

The building is one of 10 former one-room schoolhouses that once operated in the town of Portville, she said. They became obsolete in the centralized school movement that followed World War II.

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Dedication ceremony to mark completion of one-room schoolhouse restoration