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Photograph.
Sources: Dale Travis. Ellen Puerzer.
Entered: August, 2006
Updated: February, 2007
Updated: December, 2011
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The Bucks County school had high windows and whitewashed stone walls and known as Neeld school. Ruins lie on Oxford valley and New Oaks Rd. Built in 1773 by a man named Briesford on Thomas Parsons land. After 1850 it was rented as a 3 room residence but by 1900 was allowed to deteriorate until only some ruins are left. (source: Dec 2, 1973 paper)
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Penn's Park octagonal schoolhouse in Wrightstown was built in 1802 and is still standing as Eight Square School Historic Site. Built of brown fieldstone it has unusual double windows in each wall. It is in Bucks County and was used as a school until 1850. It is located at the south corner of State Road 232 and Swamp Road.
Designed by Moses Moon farmer, a horticulturist and surveyor. was prominent for the design of the Wrightstown School in Oxford Valley. The Wrightstown School served as school from 1802 -1851, when public education had become more widespread, and the need for private school diminished. If as suggested over 100 octagonal schools stood in the Delaware Valley (a questionable estimate) , this alone remains.
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In 1838, the School District of Birmingham , Delaware County built an eight-sided stone school on land donated by Robert Bulloch; thus it was known as the Bulloch school.
In 1875 it was sold, and used by Mother Archie (Lydia A Archer, a black preacher) as her church until her 1932 death.. She built a residence next door. Today the ruins of Bullock Octagon School are being preserved. It was stone with a large gable on the roof at the entrance. Andrew Wyeth painted this area at least 3 times.
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The source of much of the following info came from former owner Douglas King.
We (Petersens) owned the house from September 1990 to February 1993. It was built between 1880 and 1890 by a man named Applegate and was nicknamed "Applegate Mansion" and "The Beehive House". The story we were told was that Applegate kept bees as a hobby, thus the shape of the house.
The center hexagon is three stories, foyer, 1st floor landing and attic. The other three hexagons are two stories. The back hexagon is the 1st floor kitchen, bathroom above. The other two were living/sitting rooms, with a bedroom above. The bathroom was originally a third bedroom. When the Kings owned the house, they converted the third bedroom to a bathroom, as the bathroom at that time was carved out of some space in the second floor landing and was minuscule. There was also a fireplace in on one of the sitting rooms and built in bookshelves in the other sitting room, both original to the house. I think they may have been a second fireplace.
The foyer had a carved staircase, a wood paneled wall and a built-in storage bench that followed the contours of the room. All the floors and wood in the foyer was original to the house, as were all the doors.
The walls were plaster/lathe with air/leaves/newspaper as insulation. The original windows were at least 8 feet tall. The Kings replaced them with the 7ish foot windows that you see in the photographs. The Kings also put a drop ceiling in on both floors to save on heat as the ceilings were very, very high, I think 13 feet. The doors had transom windows above, and we could see them when we removed the ceiling tiles. Above the drop ceiling you could also see some of the original wallpaper.
All the rooms were very large, the internal size of each wall was 11 feet.
The exterior was originally wood and the roof was originally slate. Unfortunately, the house was neglected for an extended period of time before the King's purchased it. During that time the roof was destroyed by trees that were planted too close to the house and the exterior wood became so dry that it would not hold paint, so they elected to use the siding you see on Google street view.
The structure is tough. A fire broke out in the house at one point and the owner at the time wanted the fire department to let it burn. The house suffered some smoke damage and some charring of of an beam in the attic - but no damage that would affect the integrity of the house.
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Williamsport, PA, in Lycoming county. Quote from The One room schoolhouse Lycoming County's legacy.
About 1814, another academy was erected on Third and West streets. Octagonal in shape, it was often called the Octagonal School rather than by its formal name — The Williamsport Arcade- my for the Education of Youth in the English and Other Languages in the Useful Arts, Science, and Literature. Subscriptions from local citizens and a $2000 grant, obtained from the state on condition that no more than five poor children be taught without charge, made possible the erec- tion of this substantial brick building that was a landmark for many years. This same academy became Dickinson Seminary in later years and was the lineal ancestor of Lycoming College.
The academy was served by a line of Scotch-Irish masters until 1835. After that time. Miss M. A. Heilman and Miss P. Hall conducted a young ladies' seminary in the old building for a number of years. The site of the academy was moved to the present location of Lycoming College in 1838 for the following reason:
Whereas the said situation is no longer deemed a proper situation for an academy by reason of the termination of the Williamsport and Elmira Railroad at or near the house at- tracting the attention of the scholars and endangering their personal safety.
Beginning in 1835 the trustees rented old Williamsport Academy to the new public school system for $15 a year. But the city’s first venture into public education was a struggle, and in 1840 the Academy trustees decided to sell the property to John B. Hall for $2392 in order to purchase a lot and building and reestablish a private school at the head of what is now Academy Street. With two stories added, that building eventually became the west wing of Old Main for Williamsport Dickinson Seminary [now Lycoming College]. The original Academy structure on Third Street, which Hall remodeled into a private home, was located at the site of the present Federal Court House.
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In May of 1856 John Hamilton contracted with Wm. Herrod for the erection of an octagon brick dwelling house directly north of the corner of Main and Seventh Sts. The basement contained a kitchen and dining room as well as several other rooms for servant use. The entire house was most beautifully furnished in the taste of cultured refinement.
Steve Hamilton wrote in 1904 of some of his memories of Coudersort in the early days. In 1847 he and his family moved here from Philadelphia in a "schooner" wagon. They lived several places before building the octagon house.
Feb 2 1888 - House and lot for sale. The desirable house and lot occupied lately by Steve Hamilton.
Steve Hamilton sold this home to Conrad Miller in 1932.
On May 13 of 1937 this house and property were sold to Brownhill & Kramer who started a silk mill on the site.
Oct 28 1937 - A crew of workmen under the direction of Art Froebel started work of demolishing the old Octagon House.
There was also an octagon school house in Ulysses, PA, and one in Westfield, Tioga Co., PA.
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In 1859, an academic school was erected in Lewisville by subscription. Among the chief contributors were O. A. and Burton Lewis, A. B. Bennitt, Hon. D. C. Larrabee, BEnoni Pierce and Seth Lewis. With the assistance of other donations and the proceeds from an oyster supper and square dance, the mortgage which the stockholders had required to finance the undertaking was eliminated. This school became known as the Octagon Academy because of the shape in which it was built. In the initial stages of its construction, a strong wind toppled the frame. Mr. Larrabee, who was on the frame at the time with Mr. Swift, escaped unharmed except for fine hemlock slivers in his arms, which he received from sliding down one of the twenty-four foot posts which had remained upright. Mr. Swift was somewhat jarred by the fall. The builders again set up the framework which had been damaged to the extent of $200, and soon the first high school in Lewisville was established.
In 1895, due to an increasing attendance, Henry Button was contracted to construct a new and more spacious building. Two years later, the old building was sold to Edson Hyde, who used some of the lumber in the construction of his law office, which has since been converted into a garage. The remaining lumber was used for a barn on Water Street.
The Octagon Academy was erected in the Borough in 1859. This was torn down in 1895 and a more commodious school was built near the site.
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Margery Bell wrote:
"My Great Aunt Cora wrote about playing there. There was a porch around each story. There was a door onto the porch from every room and a stairway connecting each porch on the outside. Kids could run in one room, up the center stairs out another room and be on a porch above, then down stairs outside, etc. It must have been a child's dream. She said she watched her grandfather repair shoes in one room and never found that room again. She also said they could drive a team into the basement to unload produce from their truck garden outside of town and there was one basement room just for storing maple sugar.
Also attached are pictures of Hollister and Dorlesca and a floor plan of the first floor drawn by Vida Baker, a granddaughter of Hollister, about 1947. Note - The diagram of the interior says WB stands for Wood box and C for closet.
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