Schoolhouse Gets State Funds

Philipstown landmark was built in 1874
A 19th-century schoolhouse that has sat empty for 90 years is on its way to a new life as a state park visitor center.
The state parks department announced on Jan. 16 that Friends of Fahnestock and Hudson Highlands State Park (FOFHH) will receive $77,950 for the first phase of $600,000 in restoration work on the Philipstown landmark near the intersection of Routes 9 and 301.

FOFHH has already raised the $22,550 in matching funds required for the Park and Trail Partnership Grant, according to President Katharine Spector. She said work should begin in the spring or summer, once permits have been secured.
The grant is part of $2.25 million in funding distributed to 27 nonprofit organizations, including $27,450 to the Bannerman Castle Trust to connect trails on the island to improve accessibility for visitors, and $62,350 to the Walkway Over the Hudson to replace outdated and deteriorating wayfinding signs.

In Phase 1 of the schoolhouse project, FOFHH will restore the exterior brick and stone foundation, replace the roof and install historically accurate windows and doors. The interior will be restored during Phase 2, which is expected to cost $200,000. A picnic area, outdoor public restroom and a trail connecting the site to nearby Hubbard Lodge and trailheads will be completed during Phase 3, for $300,000.

Built in 1874, the one-room schoolhouse was part of a hamlet known as Griffin's Corners, and later Mekeels Corners, that included houses, the Griffin Hotel, a tavern, a blacksmith shop and the Philipstown Methodist Episcopal Union Chapel (1867), which still stands and is the site of a non-denominational service each year on Independence Day.
The school operated until 1936, when it was sold to Helen Fahnestock Hubbard at public auction. The state parks department bought the property in the late 1980s.