Bloomingdale School, undated. From Facebook Bloomingdale School There have been at least two Bloomingdale Schools. The first, two-story building shown on the postcard, was on Johnson Road. The second, present Bloomingdale School is located at 93 Main Street.

Address: 93 Main Street, Bloomingdale

Old Address: Johnson Road, a different building at a separate location

Year built: c. 1878; c. 1966-67

Other information: Bill Demong attended Bloomingdale School in the 1980s.

Franklin Gazette, February 15, 1878

Up South
Bloomingdale, Feb. 7, 1878

... We are to have a new School House and last Tuesday evening the committee met and received proposals for building the same. Mr. Levi Noble, being the lowest bidder, was the lucky man. Mr. Eugene Woodruff drew up the plans and specifications. It is to be a two story building...

Franklin Gazette, March 8, 1878  

Up South
Bloomingdale, March 2, 1878

Our school closes next week, after a long term of sixteen weeks; and it is the general feeling of all in the district that it has been a very profitable one to the scholars. It is a long time since we have had as capable a teacher as Miss Ella Dudley. In mathematics she has proved herself to be particularly so, having carried two classes through Practical and Higher Arithmetic during the term, and has worked out for her scholars one or two sums in the latter which former teachers have declared to be impossible. We hope she will not decline to take the school for the summer. 

Franklin Gazette, January 17, 1879

Bloomingdale school, undated
Historic Saranac Lake Collection
We commend the judgment of our School Trustee, Mr. Town, in the selection of a teacher, Mr. [Charles] HICKOK having earned the reputation of being an able and efficient teacher wherever he has taught. Bloomingdale may justly feel proud of her new school house, and it reflects much credit upon the contractor, Mr. LEVI NOBLE, and all connected with its erection. The building is erected on the old site on Main street, the main part being 40x28—2 stories, with 22 ft. posts with wing 18x20—18 ft. posts, piazza extending along the main part and wing 48 ft. long and 6 ft. wide, the whole surmounted by a tasteful bellfrey. The seats and benches are of the latest and most approved style, and the workmanship upon the whole is of the most complete and serviceable nature. We venture to say that there is not a town of the size of Bloomingdale in the whole State that can boast of as fine a school house. In this connection we must not forget to mention the liberality of Mr. E. W. TOOF, in presenting the District with a Bill.

Lake Placid News, June 29, 1928Bloomingdale High School Glee Club, 1941-42. In the top row, from left, are Adele Finnigan, Geraldine Ling, -?-, Janice Smith, Barbara McManus, Arlene Hewitt, Mary McManus, Rita Riley (my sister Rita Littlefield) and Annabelle Robinson. In the middle row, from left, are Freda Downs, Ruth Arnold, Celia Morency, -?-, Pauline Skiff, Erika Ransom, -?- and Isabelle McManus. In the bottom row, from left, are Mrs. Fletcher, Rita Derby, Ruth Thompson, Teresa Morford, Elizabeth Slattery, -?-, Addie May LaFountain and Marguerite Riley (Marguerite Ellithorpe), Mary Grady’s mom).
Photo courtesy of Geraldine Ling Betters via her son, Russell Betters of Tupper Lake
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, August 21, 2021

BLOOMINGDALE

School closed with the following program: Baccalaureate sermon to the graduates by Rev. S. T. Ruck on Sunday evening in the Episcopal church. Monday evening, grade exercises in the town hall. Tuesday evening, graduation and reading of essays; address to the graduates by Rev. Cole of Saranac Lake; instrumental music. The graduates were Miss Inez Huffington, Miss Helen Plumley, Miss Edith Arnold, and Miss Marjorie Anderson. Wednesday evening was the reception and informal dance.

Lake Placid News, July 26, 1946

BLOOMINGDALE HIGH MOVES TO SAR. LAKEBloomingdale High School (undated) Courtesy of the Penobscot Maritime Museum (Prints available) Bloomingdale School, 2012

St Armand school district 4, at its annual meeting, voted to abandon Bloomingdale high school and to send its students to Saranac Lake high school from the seventh thru the 12th grades. The action was taken after discussion on the subject began many months ago. Similar action has been urged frequently during the past five years, but it was turned down by the voters on each occasion.

The students will be brought to Saranac Lake High school by buses.

Essex County Republican, January 10, 1947

Essex County Chrono'gical Order Town Events 1946

January 10, 1947 . . . Bloomingdale High school abandoned...

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, January 12, 1966

Casier Site Chosen for S.L. High School

Option Also Signed for Land For K-4 Bloomingdale School

Three-year options were signed last night by the School Board of the Saranac Lake Central School for three pieces of property on which it is proposed to build new facilities.

The major option was for the 80 acres of property owned by Frank Casier, bounded by the George Lapan Highway, Ampersand Avenue, Edgewood Road and Hope Street.

Another option was signed for a small piece of property adjoining the Casier land at the corner of Edgewood Rd. and the LaPan Highway. This small piece is owned by Arthur C. Garwood and is currently used for a small sawmill.

The third piece, belonging to Thomas C. Norman, covers about 20 acres and is located in Bloomingdale just above the present school [emphasis added] on Johnson Road. . . .

Mr. Norman's option was also $500 with the land to be purchased for $7,500 to be used for the construction of an elementary school, from kindergarten through the Fourth Grade, for pupils from Bloomingdale, Vermontville, Gabriels, Paul Smith's and Onchiota. . . .

The decision on the Casier property came after some two years of discussion, beginning with the approval of school centralization in March of 1964.

The actual purchases cannot be made until the approval of a bond issue by the taxpayers of the central school district in a referendum, and the Board of Education expects to have an announcement on this matter within the next few days.

(See New Saranac Lake High School for complete text of this article.)

Lake Placid News, July 21, 1966

Claude Clark resigns as district supervisor

As foreseen by school officials several weeks ago, Claude Clark of Bloomingdale, Essex County Supervisory School District 2 superintendent, has submitted his resignation to become effective on August 31.

Mr. Clark has been an educator for 38 years and has served 21 of those years in his present post.

Dr. Frank Tanneberger of Westport, president of the district's Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES), confirmed the receipt of Clark's resignation. He added that the BOCES would meet at the Westport Central School on July 27 to decide what to do.

District 2 includes Lake Placid, Keene, AuSable, Willsboro, Westport and Elizabethtown-Lewis while District 1, whose superintendent is John Dillon of Schroon Lake, includes the rest of Essex County.

There has been some thought of combining the two districts with Mr. Clark's resignation. This action would have to be taken by the State Department of Education although the BOCES is inclined not to want to lose its identity.

As of September 1, Mr. Clark will receive his retirement pay. However, it is known that he has a number of plans for continued work in education, at least some of which would take him away from his home in Bloomingdale and even out of the state.

If the Lake Placid voters should decide to merge their schools with the Saranac Lake Central School District into one larger district, this might affect the State Department's decision or the continuation of Essex County District 2 as s separate unit.

The Plattsburgh Press-Republican this morning quotes Mr. Tanneberger as ascribing Mr. Clark's resignation to his "conflict with some of the federal school programs."

Tanneberger added, "I think the situation comes from his working with some of these programs that are against his personal beliefs. I think he finds it hard committing himself to these programs."

In conversation with The Enterprise late this morning. Mr. Clark confirmed this interpretation of his resignation but added that big differences were generally two in number:

<1> He believes that governmental assistance to non-public schools is "definitely unconstitutional and he cited the text book assistance as a case in point. In fact, he said he had resigned as of August 31 because the text book law goes into effect on September 1.

<2> He opposes federal aid to the schools of New York State and the restrictions such aid carries. Mr. Clark feels that the control of schools should be exclusively in the hands of the local community and the states.

He said some states might need federal aid but not New York State, and he added that New York schools would lose more than they gain.

Mr. Clark, speaking of his future work, said he had been offered several opportunities with the federal programs but he had rejected them because of his convictions.

Born in Luce, Minn., the son of a railroad foreman and he majored in history at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York where he received the bachelor of arts degree.

He taught mathematics, science and coached basketball at Bergon from 1928 to 1930 and then had his first principalship at Lafayette. In 1934 he received a masters degree, from Columbia University and then completed his course work at New York University.

In 1937 he became principal of the Bloomingdale school and was named district superintendent on January 1, 1939.

In 1943 he enlisted in the Army and became a first lieutenant. He served as mayor of Bloomingdale from 1948 to 1952.

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 1, 1973

Fire levels old school

BLOOMINGDALE - The two-story Bloomingdale School, built in 1915 and sold in 1971 by the school district, burned to the ground in a fire that started about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Residents of the school area reported to the state police that they had heard a loud blast at about 10:45. Chester Ratette, who lives within 300 feet of the school, said he looked out his window and saw flames coming out of the top section of the school.

The police are continuing the investigation.

The school was owned by Dennis Greenier of Rouses Point who could not be reached today. Firemen said they believed he was preparing to tear down the building. Mr. Grenier had purchased the building from Frances Gadway of Lake Placid who had purchased it on a bid of $1,100 from the Saranac Lake Central School District on Aug. 25, 1971.

At that time the school had already suffered minor fire damage and some vandalism.

Several members of the Bloomingdale Fire Department were in the fire house at the time of the explosion. Chief Jim Cronin says they heard the noise and went outside to investigate. At first they saw nothing unusual, but then one of the group spied the flames. By the time they went back in the fire house, several reports of the fire had been received by telephone.

They believe that Mrs. Timothy Howard of St. Regis Avenue was the first to call. At the time, one truck was on its way to Vermontville where there was a large bonfire, evidently started by Halloween pranksters. The truck was called back to Bloomingdale on the radio system. The Saranac Lake Fire Department was called on mutual aid at 10:56 and Lake Placid also was called. Altogether about 50 men worked at the scene, the last leaving at 7:30 a.m. today

It was necessary to lay 2,100 feet of hose to get water from the Saranac River…

Letter to the Editor, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, July 15, 2014

Bloomingdale High School Memories

Recently a friend of mine sent me a picture of Bloomingdale High School as it looked when I attended 75 years ago. There seemed to be some discrepancy in the caption next to the picture. The last graduating class from BHS was in 1939, when 11 of us received our diplomas at a ceremony held in the local town hall. Our class consisted of four girls and 11 boys: Annie Hewitt (Converse) and Geraldine LaGoy (Joyce), the two surviving alumni, and Pauline Weston, Harriet Stephenson (Limbert), Charles Reick, Donald Hayes, Elmer Brewster, John Brewster, Jack Hewitt, Billy Hewitt and John Arthur Sprague. How fortunate we were to grow up in a small, friendly town nestled in beautiful Adirondack mountains.

Geraldine (LaGoy) Joyce

Marcellus

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, February 12, 2022, Howard Riley's column

The last class at Bloomingdale High

Photo caption: The 1943 Bloomingdale High School graduating class --Leo Derby, Bill Stephenson, August (Augie) Simpson and Paul Vancour.

External link:

Comments

Add tags