Town had nine school districts

By Ruth Probst

Saturday, March 1, 2008 11:52 PM EST

Did you know that Aurelius used to be divided into nine school districts?
€ District 1 - Turnpike Road, between Mud Lock and Routes 5 and 20. Now it is a private home.

€ District 2 - Basswood Road, north of Routes 5 and 20. Now it is a private home.

€ District 3 - The corner of Canoga and Webster Road, St. Vladimir's Church. Presently the property is empty.

€ District 4 - Cayuga Village, Center and Union streets - four rooms and two classes each. It is a Masonic Lodge and a private home now.

€ District 5 - The corner of Experimental and Bluefield roads. Now it is a private home.

€ District 6 - Genesee Street Road, a half-mile west of railroad tracks. Now it is a private home.

€ District 7 - Blanchard Road and Routes 5 and 20. The building has been torn down.

€ District 8 - Turnpike and Blanchard Roads. Now it is a private home.

€ District 9 - West Genesee Street Road, west of Half Acre - Stone School. It used to be Senator Riford's office. Presently it is a painting studio used by Mr. Sinicropi of Seneca Falls.

In 1874 it was compulsory to attend school up to the eighth grade. Anyone wishing to attend high school had to take the train to Seneca Falls. The train would leave at 7 each morning. If you missed the train either way, you were responsible for your own transportation.

Each of the nine districts raised school taxes to maintain the individul schools. The following is an example from District 2:

Imagine, District 2 raised $600 in school taxes from all the people living in the district in 1928.

In 2008, an average individual tax bill might be $600.

A very distinguished gentleman from the town of Aurelius told me that when he moved here in 1943, his school tax was $20. In the early part of the 1900s, a teacher was paid roughly $23 a week. Many lived with a family within the district. In 1934 to 1935, transportation was paid to Union Springs Central School.

District 4 was the grade school on Center Street in Cayuga Village. My daughter started school there. She would get upset because the boys loved to dip her pig tails in the ink wells. Does anyone know what an ink well is?

This school was closed in 1952 and the new grade school, Cayuga Elementary School, was built and moved into in 1953.

The average class size in the old school was 15.

All of the school districts eventually centralized with Union Springs Central School.

Ruth Probst is historian for the town of Aurelius

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