Location: Baker, NY
Status: Unknown
Settled in the small town of Baker, NY stands a structure that is near and dear to many residents in Broome County. The former Charlotte Kenyon Elementary School, located just outside of Chenango Forks, was once full of life as children came together with their friends who lived close by and made the best of their primary school days. As time went on, more schools in the area started to appear and soon enough the elementary school that once created a sense of community closed and was left abandoned for years to come. What happened to this school and what will become of it in the future after being vacant for nearly 20 years? All these questions and more will be answered as we take a look at the history behind the former Charlotte Kenyon Elementary School.
Originally built in 1929 as the Chenango Forks High School, this structure was the first school to be built in a centralized district. Before then, students within the town could choose where they wanted to go to school but many soon preferred to start attending this new school as it included several classrooms, an eating area, and an auditorium that doubled as a gymnasium. During this time, many students had to walk long ways to get to their schools since it was further away from their homes so this new school was also convenient for those who had to walk many miles to their pervious school each day. The first graduating class only included 12 students but the number grew as the years went on.
Within the next decade, the population of the town grew along with the attendance at the Chenango Forks High School. To keep up with the growing population, a new addition was added in 1941 that included a new cafeteria and 6 new classrooms. A second addition had to be added just 6 years later as the number of students attending the school continued to grow each year during the World War II era. This newest addition cost $137,000 and added a new entrance to the school.
After the war, the baby boomer era commenced and you know what that meant? More students started attending the school than ever before! By then, the school became so overcrowded that many classes were doubled up into one room to accommodate each class. Combined with the new specialized classes that students had to take to meet the needs of the emerging society, the school expanded for the last time in 1956. This final addition added 11 more classrooms, a double sized gymnasium, and a large transportation facility to hold buses.
Chenango Forks High School after its final addition, traversingtravy.com
The population of students attending Chenango Forks High School continued to increase into the 1960’s. Around this time, many other districts in the area started to open up more schools due to the high enrollment within their area. Some of these schools included Susquehanna Valley High School, Vestal High School, and more.
Rather than building on new additions to this school, the Chenango Valley School District followed the trend and decided to build a brand-new high school to accommodate the ever-growing student body. The new Chenango Valley High School was built in 1967 and all the students were transferred to the new school. Soon after, the former high school was repurposed into what would be later known as the Charlotte Kenyon Elementary school. The school was named after a teacher who taught there for over 40 years. A portrait of Charlotte was hung in the main foyer of the school for many years until it closed in 2002.
Before the school closed, another elementary school within the district (John Harshaw Elementary School) expanded and added two new wings. One wing of the school was for the current Harshaw students while the other was for the incoming Kenyon students. All 477 of the Charlotte Kenyon students (grades 3-5) were transferred to their new school as the older building was soon sold to Blackbird, Inc for $40,000. The company hoped to remodel the former school building into a senior home, but the plans fell through. The building was put up for sale in 2015.
Since the school’s closure, the building has continued to rot away as plans to renew it have been in limbo. While it has remained vacant, several incidents have happened inside in the building including a homeless man setting fire to the stage of the auditorium in 2010 and 6 teenagers being arrested on the property for trespassing in 2013.
The current owner of the building, Opportunities for Broome Inc., planned on renovating the building into a senior housing center. During an interview regarding the plans, the CEO of the organization said, “We’ll get low-income seniors there. You could have individuals or families with documented disabilities, there will be a variety people who will be able to be housed there. We’re also looking at putting possibly a health clinic there. We’re interested in putting one of our head start centers there.”. Along with this, the CEO mentioned that this project would bring more jobs to the small area and construction would be completed by 2019.
As of 2021, no construction has begun on the building. The only things that have been worked on throughout the school is installing a lighting system on the front of the school and cutting down bushes that use to block the entrance.
The front entrance of the school in 2015, traversingtravy.com
The front entrance of the school now
Along with these changes, the organization has locked all the doors around the school. I was unable to find a way inside of the former school to get photos of the interior. I’m sure you could look up photos and videos from inside of the building from a few years ago but as of now there’s no way inside. Luckily, I was able to walk around the exterior of the building to get some photos.
The former Charlotte Kenyon Elementary School has held many memories to the people who attended school there. It was said to be one of the first schools around that had a sense of community to it as students were able to attend school with their neighbors and meet new people who they wouldn’t have known if they didn’t go to the school. Hopefully the former elementary school will gain new life after the current pandemic.
This has been the story behind the former Charlotte Kenyon Elementary School.
*UPDATE*
In October of 2021, A fellow Urbanx Photographer showed me a way to get into the school and gave me a tour around. One part of the school was still standing while the other side was slowly rotting away, especially the floorboards to many of the classrooms and the hallway on the second floor.
Many vandals have made their mark around the school, especially in the gym and the stage as several graffiti tags can be seen there and in different areas of the school.
Some of the stuff that originally came from the school was still in the building ranging from dozens of chairs to baseball helmets and booklets. There was even a newspaper that was dated back to September of 2001, a year before the school closed for good.
Overall, the inside of Charlotte Kenyon had sights to behold, but I don't see it standing for any longer. Either those who bought it will tear it down within a few years if they still want to go through with their plans or something will happen to where it will collapse on its own.
If you happen to go in and check it out for yourself, wear boots or any shoes you don't care about because there are some areas that have big puddles that are hard to get around. Also be careful of the floor boards as some look like they can give way any day.
I uploaded the photos I took to the gallery, so be sure to check those out!
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