{"nrhp_refnum":"98000553","name":"District School No. 1","other_names":["Cedar Hill Schoolhouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 144","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bethlehem","county":"Albany County","state":"NY","lat":42.553073710000035,"lon":-73.76966918499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-05-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"District School No. 1, also called the Cedar Hill Schoolhouse, is a one-story brick Italianate schoolhouse on NYS Route 144 in Bethlehem, Albany County, New York. It was built in 1859 and enlarged in 1907.","why_significant":"It is presented as architecturally significant, a well preserved two-room brick schoolhouse that retains much of its original form and setting and is an important regional example of schoolhouse architecture in New York. It reflects mid-nineteenth-century school design reforms such as a separate vestibule, high ceilings and evenly spaced windows. The 1907 enlargement was directed by Albany architect Marcus T. Reynolds. It also recalls the hamlet of Cedar Hill and local education history.","narrative":"Built in 1859 on a small lot at the corner of River Road and Clapper Road, this brick schoolhouse served the Cedar Hill hamlet on the Hudson River for 102 years. It opened in the fall of 1860 with 24 students, and enrollment reached 69 by 1883. In 1907 the building was enlarged under Albany architect Marcus T. Reynolds, who added a second classroom, an entrance vestibule and a domed cupola that doubles as a ventilation tower. The Italianate design features overhanging eaves, brick pilasters and blind arcades, while the two-room plan, separate coat room and tall ceilings reflect nineteenth-century school reforms. Students were reassigned to other schools in 1962, and the building passed to the town of Bethlehem in 1964. Since 1965 it has housed the Bethlehem Historical Society and a museum. The nomination describes it as a rare, highly intact example of a once-common building type and a reminder of Cedar Hill.","period_of_significance":"1859-1948","architect_builder":"Reynolds, Marcus T. (architect)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Italianate","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed as a school in 1962; now used as a museum and home of the Bethlehem Historical Society, owned by the town of Bethlehem.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.336477-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/98000553.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000553/c7f3476c82-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000553/c7f3476c82-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"TrudiJ","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:District_School_No._1,_New_York.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">TrudiJ</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:District_School_No._1,_New_York.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316213","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_School_No._1_(Bethlehem,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5283370"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/albany-county/district-school-no-1-98000553/"}