HPC 2020 Winning Essay
The Crotonville School Building
By Emily Huang
The Crotonville School Building, otherwise known as the Parker Bale American Legion Post, is a rather small, one-story building located on 11 Old Albany Post Road in Ossining. This Italianate building was built around 1860. During that time period, the influence from Italian villas and farmhouses greatly impacted the architecture in the Northeast of the United States. Italianate features include decorative brackets under roofs, window crowns, square cupolas, narrow windows, and smaller entry porches. The Crotonville School’s exterior walls are painted with a grape wine color. There are steps to a small, white front porch surrounding the front door. Above the front door’s overhang is an oeil-de-boeuf window (also known as a bull’s eye window) with dentils. The building has six-over-six, double-hung windows; two in the front, and four on each side. Each window has a white, dentiled arch over it. When first built, the building also had bracketed cornices, however, these Italianate Revival cornices were removed at a later, unknown date. On the building’s roof, there is a white cupola for fresh air and light.
The Crotonville School is the second oldest school built in Ossining that is still standing today. When constructed, this building served as a public primary school for the children of the Crotonville neighborhood. Crotonville School was a branch of the local district, this one was called School Number 5. At the time of operation, this branch school had an estimated number of 40 students. There was a single, moderately sized room inside where all the students were taught together in. This building acted as a primary school until 1931. Since then, it has served as the Parker Bale American Legion Post #1590, which is the largest wartime veterans service organization in the United States. Local posts around the country mentor the youth, advocate patriotism, promote national security, and show devotion to veterans.
I visited the Crotonville School for the first time when I was in first grade for a friend’s birthday party that was hosted there. I remember wondering what the building was used for on “normal” days, and the only thing I came up with was that it was connected to the Ossining Recreational Center. Four years later, I visited this building again, for the same friend’s birthday party in fifth grade. I remember this memory a little clearer than the previous. The Crotonville School was right next to a small bridge on the side of Ossining that was close to Croton. There was a small cannon and an American flag on the front lawn of the property. I had concluded that this building had something to do with the US Army and moved on to celebrate my friend’s birthday. Now, years later, I am fascinated by the deep history and intricate design of the Crotonville School. When I learned that this building was once a primary school for kids, it made me think of all of the historical fiction books I read and how similar lives were led right here in Ossining. It amazes me to think that I was once standing where young students also stood over a century ago. My family owns a book that displays pictures of Ossining from the past two centuries, and every time I thumb through the pages, the visuals from the Greek Revival, Gothic, Victorian, and Italianate architectures astonish me. Ossining is a town filled with so much history and architectural evidence of it. When you think of Ossining, you think of a small suburban town on the Hudson. The High Victorian and Italianate buildings of Main Street and Sing Sing Prison display the rich history of our town. Though, some historical structures in quieter areas of Ossining are often not paid attention to by the general population. After researching the Crotonville School, I am even more intrigued by the significance of the building. It makes me wonder: What subjects were taught? How was the building heated? Was the classroom crowded for 40 students? What color was the building’s exterior originally?
The Crotonville School must be preserved because it is one of the few structures left in Ossining that displays the lifestyle of the residents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It displays beautiful Italianate architecture and has a mesmerizing history of importance to the neighborhood it belongs in. In a modernizing town full of newer structures, preserving buildings built in previous time periods is important in not only remembering our town’s past but also diversifying the visual of Ossining. Since it now serves as an American Legion Post, the building is important to honor our veterans. The Crotonville School is a beautiful building that I hope others in the future can also see and learn about, which will be made possible by the preservation and protection of the structure.
Works Cited
Village of Ossining, New York Significant Sites and Structures Guide. Apr. 2010, www.villageofossining.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif4821/f/uploads/village_of_ossining_significant_sites_structures_guide2.pdf.
Historical Society, The Ossining. Images of America Ossining Remembered. Arcadia Pub., 1999.
“Italianate.” Architectural Styles of America and Europe, 21 Nov. 2011, architecturestyles.org/italianate/.
“Mission.” The American Legion, www.legion.org/mission.