Cayuga Street History
by Andrew O'Connor
In 1840 there were 15 separate school districts in the town of Hannibal.
Each district had its own teacher. They would teach grades 1 through 8.
The names of the districts were usually for the people who let the
school house be built on their land. Most of the school houses were
also used as churches. The children who went to the 15 different
districts had to walk 3-5 miles one way to get to their school house.
In 1949 there was a lot of talk about centralization of all the 15
districts into one. Some felt it would be too costly because they would
have to buy buses to get all kids to the village to school. If buses
had to be bought that would raise taxes. Others felt that if the
district was centralized that the kids would get a more equal education
and they could take advantage of organized sports and music.
On June 8, 1948 the people of Hannibal voted for centralization with a
vote of 767 for, and 318 against. The new district included kids from
Hannibal, Oswego Town, Granby, and Sterling. The first year there were
670 students in the district.
The building was not big enough so they had to add extra rooms to the
school in the village. In 1957, Fairley School opened to kindergarten,
first and second grades. But by 1962 they were still running out of
rooms. Part of the bus garage was divided up into classrooms for third
and fourth grades plus one class of second grade. They had to go to the
high school for lunch and recess.
In 1964, Cayuga Street Elementary School was opened with 4th, 5th, and
6th grades. A new gymnasium was added to the building in 1967. The
last constructions to the building was in 1987. Extra classrooms were
build on Cayuga Street School and the High School. The school has not
changed much since then. Cayuga Street School has about 30 rooms.
There have been 3 principals as far as I know. The 3 principals are Mr.
Cudamora, Mrs. Goodale and Mr. Kenney, plus a great staff.
Copyright © 1996 Andrew O'Connor. All rights reserved.