Puddin Hollow - District #5

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🏫 Schoolhouses of Minerva
School History - Home   /   District 1 – Alfred White   /   District 1 – Olmstedville    /   District 1 – Minerva Central
District 2 - Minerva Elementary   /   District 3 - Lynch/Mallon   /  District 4 - Irishtown   /   District 5 - Puddin Hollow
District 6 – The Ryan School   /   District 7 - The Gore School   /  Districts 8 & 11 - North River
District 9 - The Boreas School   /  District 10 - Leonardsville   /   District 12: Havron - Kays   /   District 13 – Aiden Lair​

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Pudding Hollow School circa 1908

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Students and sweethearts used the Deer Creek Trail between 14th Road and Puddin Hollow on Ridge Road to get to school and visit their sweethearts.

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🕰️Timeline at a Glance
​📍 1858
School on Ridge Street (Puddin’ Hollow) opens.
👩‍🏫 1869
Belle Dougherty begins teaching at age 15 after Ellen Butler leaves mid-term.
📘 1890
Fall term begins August 25; teacher: Mary Ellen Kelso.
📗 1891
Spring term opens April 6; teachers: Mary Ann O’Donnell (9 weeks), Alda Talbot (7 weeks).
📚 1893
Manell Lynn teaches 24 students.
📝 1905
Elizabeth “Bessie” Talbot Sullivan teaches at Puddin’ Hollow.
📉 1922
School closes due to declining enrollment.
🏫 1934
Becomes part of the centralized Olmstedville School system.
🚪 1936
Olmstedville School closes ahead of the 1937 opening of a new modern school.
🧒 1992
Noelle Sullivan Donahue discusses early schools with Minerva 4th graders; confirms location and stories tied to Puddin’ Hollow.
🏚️ Present Day
Former school building, once converted into a summer home by Peter Paul, now stands abandoned but still intact.

Origins and Location
District 5, the school on Ridge Street, was known as the Puddin’ Hollow School, as it was located in an area still referred to by that name opened in 1858 and operated for 64 years before becoming part of the centralized school. 
Historical Records and Teachers
The Society and Town Historian do have some records of the school, and memories of students and teachers have also been recorded. These little bits and pieces have allowed us to piece together a small bit of history on this schoolhouse.
The school register from 1890 shows the fall term opened on August 25th with Mary Ellen Kelso as the teacher of record. The term ended on December 12th, with a little under three months of school being open. The following year, the spring term opened on April 6th and ended on July 25, giving students four months of school in session. Mary Ann O’Donnell was the teacher for nine weeks, and Alda Talbot taught the remaining seven weeks. They were paid $7.00 per week for their services. Records also show that in 1893, Manell Lynn was the teacher and she taught 24 students that year.
Student Memories and Community Ties
Lizella Callahan recalled that there may have been a school on 14th Road, but this was no longer in existence when she was in school. Puddin’ Hollow was the closest school to her home, and she and other students in the 14th Road area “trudged” through the woods to get to school. It was “a good hike,” according to Lizella. She remembered the family names of McElwee, Flynn, Harvey, Owens, and Bennett. She also recalled that this same path was used by ardent beaus, who would follow it to visit their sweethearts.
A Visit from Noelle Sullivan Donahue
Noelle Sullivan Donahue visited the Minerva Central School fourth grade in 1992 to discuss early schools. She confirmed a log school at the end of 14th Road. Noelle told the students that the story behind that school was that no pupil ever attended it and instead followed a path along Deer Creek to attend the Puddin’ Hollow School. She added that the 14th Road teacher was paid for one week of services and then let go. No one knows, she said, if the students preferred the teacher at Puddin’ Hollow or just wanted to be with their friends. The students were shocked to learn that Belle Dougherty, who taught at Puddin’ Hollow, began teaching a month before her 16th birthday.
Belle Dougherty’s First Teaching Experience
We have a letter from Belle written to her former student James Eastman. She refers to the school as Number 5 but calls it the Callahan District. It is evident through research that school numbers were not only passed around, but names would change depending on who the trustees were or who owned the land. However, Belle clearly talks about this school being located on Ridge Road, from which we can conclude it is the Puddin’ Hollow School. In her letter, she recalls that the teacher Miss Ellen Butler had just up and left, leaving the district without a teacher. Mr. Dennis Callahan had heard Belle was the best scholar in the school and requested that she become the teacher to finish out the school year. She calls herself “just a little girl” but took the job and even taught on Saturdays to finish the term. She started on April 13th, 1869, and finished the term before the end of September, on time. She had 14 students and recalls the building being clapboard, with the teacher’s desk on one end and benches all around the outside walls.
Note: Mr. Dennis Callahan was most likely the school trustee at the time, which is why Belle refers to it as the Callahan District.
Elizabeth “Bessie” Talbot Sullivan’s Recollections
Elizabeth “Bessie” Talbot Sullivan wrote about attending the one-year Teacher Training Class in 1904 in Corinth, and then returning home to teach in Puddin’ Hollow for the 1905 school year. She then became the second teacher in the newly expanded Olmstedville School (District 1).
“Graduating the next year in June, 1905, my first school was at Puddin’ Hollow, or Ridge Street as it is now known. I had about 10 or 12 pupils, all sizes and grades. Peter Owens and Henry Bennett were little fellows, both doing long division examples about as large as themselves, on the blackboard. I boarded with the Murphy family. Such nice people! Charlie, the youngest, was in school, a teenager almost; as tall as I. His brother Willie, head of the family, one day presented me with an enormous stick, which I was to use on Charlie, if needed—but the need never arose. They were all such nice children!”
Closure and Legacy
Puddin’ Hollow School closed in 1922 when there were too few children in the area to justify keeping it open. In 1934, it became part of the centralized school in Olmstedville. The Olmstedville School then closed in 1936, when the new modern school opened in 1937. After Puddin’ Hollow was closed, the Number 5 designation was given to the school on Wilson Road, which has caused confusion when researching the numerous schoolhouses in Minerva.
The Building Today
The building itself later became the vacation home of Peter Paul, who added onto it. This was noted during Noelle Donahue’s 1992 visit with the fourth graders. The building has since been abandoned, but it still stands as a beacon to what once was.