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Pre-Shenendehowa Schools Collection

(Early Schools of Clifton Park & Halfmoon)

Introduction

This collection of documents has been gathered over the years from many sources, but two are most immediate: the Shenendehowa Central School District and the Town of Halfmoon. Arrangement and description of the records was made possible by a grant from the New York State Archives and Records Administration, SARA.

In 1950, Central District No. 2, of the Towns of Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta, Waterford, Ballston and Stillwater, later to be known as Shenendehowa Central School District, was formed. Twenty-two independent districts went into its making, eleven from Clifton Park, eight from Halfmoon, and three from Malta, including Round Lake. It is the records of those independent districts that form the heart of this collection.

The driving force behind the centralization, Rodney Olin Winans, was, from 1929-1961, Superintendent of the Third Supervisory District of Saratoga County (known as the First Supervisory District until 1939). The records of Superintendent Winans form the second largest set of documents in this collection.

About the Records

The records in this collection are not complete. There are many gaps and missing pieces, perhaps more missing than present. Despite this, there are approximately 17 cubic feet of documents related to the pre-Shenendehowa schools here, and they do provide an amazing amount of detail about the schools, the children who attended them and the communities in which they were located. Most documents date in the 1910-1961 range, but the oldest document dates from 1765 and the newest 1990. An effort was made to limit the inclusion of documents dated after 1950, the year Shenendehowa was formed.

It was decided to keep the arrangement of records by the school districts, as they were numbered in 1949, and to impose upon the rest of the documents the order found on the Series List. It should be kept in mind that district numbers changed many times over the years, sometimes in quite complicated manners.

This collection includes records from the independent school districts, from Shenendehowa Central School District, private papers from Superintendent Winans, records from the Third Supervisory District of Saratoga County, and works from the various people who have done research into any of these areas. Included are reports, correspondence, notes, photographic materials and all other sorts of documents.

Document conditions vary from excellent to extremely poor, depending on the materials documents were made from and the environmental factors they were subjected to over the years. Please be careful when handling fragile documents. Use of this collection is by appointment only. Call 371-8622.

Related Works

Many people have written about the "one room schools" that preceded Shenendehowa. This collection holds several pieces written about individual districts, and those works are found in the records of their respective districts. Evelyn Dash produced many short pieces about the schools overall, and those are located in the 5.3.1, Research/Writings/Presentations sub-series. Many area newspaper columns have also been dedicated to the history of Shenendehowa, the towns that are part of it, and the schools that formed it.

In addition to these, there have been several books written that include related chapters or are wholly dedicated to the topic. These include: The Man and the People Who Made Shenendehowa, by Francis E. Townley, Early Schools of Half Moon and Clifton Park, by Howard I. Becker, Halfmoon: A peaceful Passageway, by The Halfmoon Bicentennial Committee, and Crossroads and Canals: The History of Clifton Park, by William R. Washington and Patricia S. Smith.

Online Search Tools

In the process of archiving this collection, a database was created. This database describes the collection's contents and organization. These Pre-Shenendehowa Schools search tools offer more detailed descriptions of items in the collection from the database. Scanned images from the collection are also posted for viewing.

School Census

Information from the schools in this collection contains directory information about individual students. This is of interest to geneologists. These records, from 1920 - 1950, are quite complete. A group of Friends of the Clifton Park - Halfmoon Public Library Volunteers has completed a database of this information.

5.1 Pre-Consolidation School District Records
- 5.1.1 Clifton Park
  - 5.1.1.1 Clifton Park District No.1, Rexford (Did not become a part of central school district)
  - 5.1.1.2 Clifton Park District No.2, Grooms Corners
  - 5.1.1.3 Clifton Park District No.3, Vischers Ferry
  - 5.1.1.4 Clifton Park District No.4, Wilbur District
  - 5.1.1.5 Clifton Park District No.5, Moe Road
  - 5.1.1.6 Clifton Park District No.6, Clifton Park Center
  - 5.1.1.7 Clifton Park District No.7, Waites Corners
  - 5.1.1.8 Clifton Park District No.8, Ushers
  - 5.1.1.9 Clifton Park District No.9, Jonesville
  - 5.1.1.10 Clifton Park District No.10, Elnora
  - 5.1.1.11 Clifton Park District No.11, Skunk Hollow
  - 5.1.1.12 Clifton Park District No.12, Clifton Park
- 5.1.2 Halfmoon
  - 5.1.2.1 Halfmoon District No.1, Waterford
  - 5.1.2.2 Halfmoon District No.2, Newton
  - 5.1.2.3 Halfmoon District No.3, Crescent
  - 5.1.2.4 Halfmoon District No.4, Anthony School (Ushers?)
  - 5.1.2.5 Halfmoon District No.5, West Crescent
  - 5.1.2.6 Halfmoon District No.7, Coons Crossing
  - 5.1.2.7 Halfmoon District No.9, Guideboard School
  - 5.1.2.8 Halfmoon District No.11, Crescent
  - 5.1.2.9 Town Records and Unidentified Half Moon Districts
- 5.1.3 Malta
  - 5.1.3.1 Malta District No.4, Maltaville
  - 5.1.3.2 Malta District No.5, Armstrongs Corners
  - 5.1.3.3 Malta District No.9, Round Lake
  - 5.1.3.4 Unidentified Malta Districts
- 5.1.4 Multiple Towns and Unidentified District Records
5.2 Records of the Third Supervisory District of Saratoga Co. (Previously the First Supervisory District)
- 5.2.1 Papers of Superintendent Winans (1923-1961)
- 5.2.2 Papers of Superintendent Lavery (Prior to 1923)
- 5.2.3 Reports of Teachers Employed
- 5.2.4 Reports of Regents Examinations
- 5.2.5 District Superintendent's Abstract of Trustee's Reports
- 5.2.6 Census Summaries
- 5.2.7 Certificate of Apportionment of Public Monies
- 5.2.8 Record of Officers and Teachers
5.3 Research/Writings/Presentations
- 5.3.1 Evelyn Dash
- 5.3.2 Amanda Walsh
- 5.3.3 Superintendent Winans
- 5.3.4 Others