🏫 ​Ryan District - District #6

🏫 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​
🕰️ Timeline at a Glance
  • 1848: Ryan District established at Del Culver & Hardscrabble Roads
  • 1866: Officially renamed District #6; new frame building constructed
  • 1868: Thomas Barnes listed as Trustee
  • 1903: Miss Katherine Armstrong of Bakers Mills teaches here
  • 1908: Fire destroys the original schoolhouse
  • 1909: New school built on McLaughlin Road in Pleasant Valley
  • 1936: Students celebrated July 4th at the LaPell and Turk homes
  • 1945: Conroy Arnold moves schoolhouse to County Route 29 as a home
  • 1990: Original building is gone, property passed to Larry Arnold
The Ryan District 6 by Minerva Historical Society
School records in the town vault from our early schools are extensive and tell us that education was extremely important to early Minerva settlers. The town's first school--the Alfred White School, also known as District 1—opened in 1818 in the Irishtown area of Olmstedville. While well attended by students in that area, it was not centrally located. In the mid-1800s, road conditions were rough, weather was unpredictable, and bussing did not yet exist. For families living more than a few miles from the school building, attending school here was not an available option.

​🌿 The Founding of the Ryan School

Families along Del Culver Road and nearby areas were struggling to educate their children. In 1848, their wish came true with the construction of a new school near the intersection of Del Culver and Hardscrabble Roads. Here, District #6—the Ryan District—took root.
​The school sat partly in the town of Minerva and partly in Chester. While not an issue in its early years, this detail became problematic as New York State began to formalize its school districts and education policy. The school took its name from Edmund Ryan, whose home once stood nearby. That same home later belonged to Bessie Kays and remained standing until around 2016, when it was deemed uninhabitable and torn down.

🪵​The Original Schoolhouse

The first schoolhouse was a simple log structure—valued at just $10 in the New York State Census. Adjusted for inflation, that would be around $367 today. Of course, that figure doesn’t account for other factors that influence property value today.

🧑‍🏫Growth, Expansion, and Community

By 1866, the Ryan District was referred to as District #16 by both Chester and Minerva. That same year, school commissioners formalized the boundary, and the Minerva portion officially became District #6. A new frame building was erected across from what would eventually become the home of Bessie Kays. Families along Del Culver Road—including the McLaughlins—sent their children to this new school.
In 1868, Thomas Barnes served as the district’s trustee. The Barnes family was one of Minerva’s founding families, and their descendants still populate the town. Students attended the Ryan School for many decades.
Records from 1903 list Miss Katherine Armstrong of Bakers Mills as the school’s teacher—one of the many dedicated women who educated Minerva’s children in these rural outposts.

🔥Tragedy and Transition

In 1908, disaster struck when the Ryan schoolhouse burned to the ground. A piece of the tin roof and a few hand-hewn beams still mark the spot where it had stood. After the fire, the district relocated. A new school was built on McLaughlin Road in Pleasant Valley, closer to where most of the attending students lived. The new school was no longer within Minerva town boundaries and became part of the Chestertown school district.
Children from Minerva who lived in the area were redirected to the Olmstedville School (District 1), which had been relocated to 1335 County Route 29 in 1855. This newer location was now on the main street and easier for area students to attend.

🏡A Schoolhouse Becomes a Home

The relocated McLaughlin school remained in operation as late as 1936 and continued to serve as an anchor of community life. Newspaper clippings document students attending a July 4th celebration at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Turk, followed by fireworks at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gary LaPell.
Sometime after 1936, the McLaughlin school building was closed. In 1945, the discarded structure was purchased by Conroy Arnold, who moved it near 1591 County Route 29. There, he and his wife Elma turned the old schoolhouse into a family home, raising five children—Vernon, Charlie, Randy, Joyce, and Edward.
The Arnolds lived in the building for decades. After Conroy passed away in 1979, Elma and their son Randy remained. Following Randy’s motorcycle accident, community members stepped up to make the home wheelchair-accessible.

❤️ End of an Era

By the time Conroy’s grandson, Larry Arnold, purchased the property in 1990, the schoolhouse-turned-home was gone. Its physical presence may have faded, but the memories and legacy it left behind remain strong in the hearts of those who remember.