SKANEATELES - They had names like Poverty Corners, Octagon and Hen Coop. They each had their own unique charm and stories. They were the places many local residents learned to read and write through the first half of the 20th century.

The small, rural schoolhouses in and around Skaneateles took center stage Tuesday night when town historian Beth Batlle gave a presentation at the Creamery. Batlle shared and listened to stories about the children and teachers from approximately 20 schoolhouses where students learned before school centralization in the 1950s.

She spoke to a full crowd, about half of which went to one of the single-room schools.

“There was something special about those rural schools,” Batlle said to the audience. “The students had such a rapport with their teachers.”

Batlle has researched the area's school houses for almost a year, obtaining information through newspaper articles, records, books and interviews. She relayed during her presentation many of the tales she discovered.

At one school house called Shepherds Settlement, the teacher - who was a bit hefty - had to use the outhouse. But in the dead of winter, the walkway was so icy it was a dangerous proposition, Batlle said.

The students offered to slide her across the yard to and from the outhouse on a sled.

“I thought that was real considerate of them,” Batlle said.

At the West Hill school house, a particularly cold winter morning froze all the ink in the students' ink wells. The teacher told the children to put the ink wells on the stove to thaw, Batlle said.

After a while, they all started hearing loud popping noises. The teacher had forgotten about the ink wells, and the corks started popping out of the spouts.

“The teacher said ‘Get your ink wells, and the corks if you can find them,'” Batlle said to Tuesday's attendees.

Some of those attendees had stories of their own. Lew Wellington remembers attending the Octagon School, which was named for its unique shape. When he was in school, the children did not mess around on the bus rides.

If you were messing around or breaking the rules, the driver would grab you by the shirt, leave you on the side of the road and drive off, Wellington said.

“The problem never came back after that,” he said.

Karlene Miller went to Peach Hill School in second grade. She remembers being able to learn more advanced material by listening to the teacher talking with the older students.

“I was learning from what she was teaching the older kids,” said Miller, historical society president.

When the state forced the local schools to centralize, the students did receive some benefits, Batlle said. They were able to participate in organized sports, for one thing.

But that moment also ended a great American institution - the one-room school house, she said. At the end of the presentation, Batlle read a quote from Fred Fundus, principal at the Mandana district at the time, who lamented the end of an era.

“He said, ‘When the meeting closed and the people went home, I felt that part of what had made America great was gone,'” Batlle said.