The School Street School
September 14, 2022
By 1907, the board of education purchased 14 lots on School Street for $5,500 and started making plans for a $45,000 modern school with 16 classrooms. The price had tripled in the 14 years since the board first considered the land purchase. Architects Lewis Inglee and Charles Hart of Amityville were engaged to draw the plans. George E. Libbey of Brooklyn was hired for the construction, as pictured in 1910.
School Street School was ready for students in the Fall of 1910. The three-story brick structure, trimmed with Roman stone, had a 600-person auditorium, seven entrances, and up-to-date amenities including a fire alarm, electric lights, and a drinking fountain.
A picture postcard from shortly after the new school opened:
The faculty of the new School Street School in 1911 was, from left to right, Agnes Bosley, third grade; Marie Lynch, fourth grade; Ann McHenry, second grade; principal O. Nelson Duesler; George Jommes, board of education; Joseph Baumer, eighth grade, Harriet E. Kelly, seventh grade; Augusta Martini, first grade and German; Caroline Burne, sixth grade, Helen Rogers, kindergarten; and Elizabeth McHenry, fifth grade, and sister of Ann.
The seventh grade class with teacher Harriet Kelly in 1910:
The sixth grade class with teacher Caroline Burne in 1912:
The classroom of commercial teacher Lelia Baker is pictured with principal O. Nelson Duesler in 1914. This teacher instructed students in a variety of business and work-related areas, including penmanship, bookkeeping, stenography, and farm management, as dictated by the employment needs of the community.
The eighth grade class with teacher Joseph Baumer, ca. 1912.
The second grade class with teacher Ann McHenry, ca. 1912
The graduating class of 1915, with principle O. Nelson Duesler on the front staircase.
The graduating class of 1921. Students wishing to continue their studies past the eighth grade could transfer to a nearby high school. Lindenhurst did not build its own high school until 1931.
In later years, ivy adorned the school’s facade:
The school baseball team in 1930:
A patriotic presentation in the school auditorium, possibly in honor of Decoration Day, ca. 1920:
