Again we visit the Village of Guilford to continue the diversified history of the school which was an important element in the continued growth of the village and to provide a quality of education for the beginning student through to the eventual graduation of higher education.
With the advent of the “War of the Rebellion” more commonly referred today as “The Civil War” the trend was slowed down in the Educational System. Eventually the long term loss was even more than at its start could be estimated. With the young men, of which many were not only students but teachers as well, leaving to serve in the Union Forces against the foe “Johnny Reb.” Facts of history are facts and no offense is meant by the foregoing statement. With the eventual end of the war, those who were fortunate to survive returned, very much changed from when they left and they had no desire to be “cooped” up on a small country school with students much younger than themselves. These returning veterans wanted more, some tried it, but most did not.
With young men leaving to participate in the war effort it resulted in natural drop in the number of births, especially in the rural areas. Long range affects the number of students decreased and thus it would lead to the closing of many of the outlying district one-room schoolhouses. Part of the outlying districts if not closed were just abandoned and to all who have lived in Chenango County have noticed as they passed by abandoned schoolhouses. They are few and far between and this writer can only recall one such building.
With the closing of the districts, the students were sent to the Guilford village schools to continue their education. As was written last week, the first village school was located in the right-away of the O&W railroad and was moved into the village and eventually became the first depot for this growing hamlet.
With the increase in student population a new wood frame building was constructed on Academy Street (later to be Mechanic Street). The new wood frame building was erected in 1865 and served the township well until the new wood on School Street to become the Union Free School was built a few years later. This much larger, two story school was sufficient but the trustees (later to be Board of Education) discovered a need for a place for sports and other school activities. The Academy Schoolhouse continued to be used for basketball, school plays, minstrel shows, banquets, suppers and other activities. At that point in time the school became to be known at “Opera House” rather than the Academy Street Schoolhouse. In the late 1930s with the new Union School being completed on the hill this building was sold to a long-term Guilford native Gunnar Nelson. He continued to use the building in conjunction with his building contracting work. Finally this building was vacated and was “just resting: and eventually into the twenty-first century approximately the early 2000 years it was demolished and the lot is at present vacant. The photo of the Academy Street Schoolhouse gives us a view of what this lovely old building looked like with the students pictured outside. Credit for this photo copy is given to the Chenango County Historian’s file copy.
However, it is not known how long this school was active until the new “Union School” was built, and this story of the turmoil surrounding the building of this school, as has been stated “to be continued.”