About
Us Historical Society The Brunswick Historical
Society began in the early 1970's, when a handful of
community members interested in preserving both the history and
historically
significant structures of Brunswick began meeting for conversation and
an investigation of the past. The original group
assembled in rooms of local churches, school libraries, and in each
other's homes, while soliciting town residents for the donations that
later became the foundation of the society's collections. As the group
did not yet have a permanent address, the collected historical records,
documents, and objects were housed around town in the garages and
outbuildings of kindly neighbors.
Due to the considerable interest, in 1974 the members invited
all residents to a meeting to discuss the possibility of formalizing a
historical society for the Town of Brunswick. Further meetings were
scheduled and, in the fall of that year, Charter Memberships were
issued to those who had initially organized the group. While membership
was limited at first, the celebration of both New York State and
America's Bicentennial sparked an interest in local history that
prompted many other town residents to join the group.
The Brunswick Historical Society was granted its Absolute Charter by
the Regents of the State of New York on May 22, 1981. Following
its mission to bring together people interested in the discovery and
preservation of local history, members published "Artifacts," the Society's quarterly
newsletter, organized numerous events and lectures, and undertook the
identification of historic structures of significance.
Today, the Brunswick Historical Society has its permanent home at the
historic Garfield School, where it maintains a library and
its collection of reference materials, photographs, objects and other
ephemera intrinsic to local history.
Garfield School The decision to build
the Garfield School in the hamlet of Eagle Mills entailed discussion,
consideration, and planning for well over a year. The original District
No. 2 School located on Garfield Road (today commemorated with an
historic marker) was overcrowded and in poor condition - problems that
needed to be alleviated quickly.
Subsequently, at an 1879 town meeting, district residents voted 23 to
17 in favor of having "plans and specifications drawn up for a new
schoolhouse and to borrow the sum of fifty dollars or as much thereof
as is necessary ... to pay for the same." The vote successful, it then
took months of considerable debate to look for and obtain both a site
for the school and a contractor to build it. It was not until December
1880 that district trustees agreed to the purchase of a lot measuring
.87 acre from Samuel H. Dater, at the cost of $435. Dater had
originally rejected a land-purchase request, and conveyed the property
with the condition that the school district "erect within six months
hereof a suitable and proper fence on the northerly and westerly sides"
of the property.
In January 1881, the trustees withdrew their approval of a two-story
schoolhouse, designed by P.M. Simmons. Nicholas Pawley, a carpenter
from Poestenkill, was then engaged and is generally recognized as the
architect. Bids for construction were solicited, and after
reconsidering
those already received, it was finally determined that the contract
would be awarded to Joachim Filieau of Eagle Mills who had bid $2762
and, curiously enough, was one of the trustees.
Construction for the building was financed by the district through the
issuance of four $500 bonds sold at auction on April 18, 1881 to Ira
Hakes (who bought all of them for a total of $2050), while the
remaining costs were obtained through taxation. The school was
constructed during a period when most rural areas of Rensselaer County
were served by one-room schoolhouses of utilitarian design. The
Garfield School, however, is a two-room, one-story structure displaying
Victorian-era stick-style architectural features; the ornate design
combined with its considerable size most likely reflect the prosperity
enjoyed in what was then the most important commercial area within
Brunswick.
The school was completed and opened for classes in the fall of 1881. As
the population of Brunswick grew over the next half century, district
schools began experiencing problems: numerous grades taught in one
room, overcrowding, and a lack of running water. Talks about
centralizing the schools began in 1945 and by 1953, fourteen
districts in the towns of Brunswick, Grafton, and Pittstown were
proposed for consolidation. After the new elementary school was opened
at Clum's Corners in September 1958, the Garfield School was used only
when enrollment exceeded available space at the new school; it later
housed BOCES classes and finally fell to use as a storage facility.
The schoolhouse remained the property of the Brittonkill School
District until 1985, when the school district solicited ideas for
adaptive reuse of the building. The Brunswick Historical Society,
recognizing the building's historical significance, pursued the use of
the building for the establishment of its headquarters. Following a
public referendum in 1986, the Garfield School was conveyed to the Town
of Brunswick with a deed restriction that the building be used for
educational purposes. Town officials granted the Historical Society use
of half the building, and the newly formed community library was
granted the other half. Efforts were immediately undertaken to restore
the interior and foundation of the structure, which included new
electrical wiring, restoration of the embossed tin ceilings, and
replastering and painting of the walls. In 1988, the school was listed
on the National Register of Historic Places, encouraging the town to
proceed with the exterior restoration, and a vigorous capital campaign
generated $32,193 of the $56, 912 needed. A celebration on
September 9, 1990 signaled the completion of this final phase of the
restoration, including a new wood shingle roof, historic paint
duplication, and replacement of the gable decoration and weather vane.
Today, the Garfield School remains one of the Capital District's most
unique, well-preserved examples of rural 19th-century schoolhouse
design, while its restoration and adaptive reuse have been recognized
by the Preservation League of New York State.¹
¹Information about the history
of the Garfield School is courtesy
of former BHS member Diana S. Waite and Town Historian Sharon Zankel,
both of whom have produced numerous newsletter articles and pamphlets
on the
topic.
