1888 Notice of Sale of Bonds to Fund Construction of Second Hutchinson School in Pelhamville

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By 1887, the tiny one-room schoolhouse built in 1861 to serve the growing community of Pelhamville was so overcrowded that, according to one account, even the window sills were used to seat pupils.  On December 20, 1887, the Board of Education of the Union Free School District No. One of the Town of Pelham decided that a new school building was needed.  

A special meeting of the voters of the District was held in the Pelham Manor School on May 8, 1888. Rev. C. Winter Bolton was elected chairman, and Mr. Henry E. Dey as clerk of the meeting. 

The district voted $6,000 for the erection of a new school building at Pelhamville. On May 15, 1888, a building committee was appointed consisting of Mr. Robert C. Black, Mr. E. H. Gurney, and Mr. Henry N. Babcock.  The architect selected was Mr. F. C. Merry.  The new school was completed at a cost of about $6,500, the size of the building being 67.4 x 64 x 58.

I have written before about the history of the public schools that have served the community of Pelhamville, later the Village of North Pelham and, even later, the northern sector of today's Village of Pelham.  See, e.g., Thu., Sep. 18, 2014:  A History of the Hutchinson School and its Predecessors in Today's Village of Pelham Published in 1926.

The Board of Education sold $6,000 of ten-year school bonds with interest at four percent per annum paid semi-annually to fund the project.  On May 29, 1888, a "Notice of Sale of Bonds" appeared in at least one New York City newspaper announcing the plans to sell the bonds and soliciting proposals for purchases of the bonds.  An image of the Notice appears immediately below followed by a citation to its source as well as a transcription of its text to facilitate search.

1888 Notice of Sale of Bonds to Fund Construction

of Hutchinson School No. 2 to Replace the Original

One-Room Schoolhouse Built in 1861.  Source:  Union

Free School, District No. One, Town of Pelham, Westchester

Co., N. Y.  NOTICE OF SALE OF BONDS [Advertisement],

The Evening Post, May 29, 1888, Vol. 87, Last Edition, p. 5, col. 6.  

"Union Free School, District No. One, Town of Pelham, Westchester Co., N. Y.

NOTICE OF SALE OF BONDS.

Notice is hereby given, according to law, by the Board of Education of Union Free School, District No. One, of the Town of Pelham, County of Westchester and State of New York, that proposals will be received by the undersigned until Tuesday, June 12, 1888, for the sale of six thousand dollars ($6,000) of the bonds of said district.  These bonds are to be issued by the said Board of Education, by authority of law, for the purpose of building a new school house at Pelhamville, N. Y.

The bonds will be dated July 1, 1888, and will be for the term of ten years, with interest at 4 per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually.  They will be issued in sums to suit purchasers, and will not be sold below par.  

The district has no bonded debt, and no obligations of any kind beyond ordinary current expenses, which are amply provided for.

The bids will be opened at the Prospect Hill Schoolhouse on Tuesday, June 12, 1888, at 8 o'clock P. M.

The right is reserved to reject any and all bids.  

Further information will be furnished by the undersigned.  

By order of the Board of Education.

HENRY E. DEY, Clerk.

Dated PELHAM MANOR, N. Y., May 28, 1888."

Source:  Union Free School, District No. One, Town of Pelham, Westchester Co., N. Y.  NOTICE OF SALE OF BONDS [Advertisement], The Evening Post, May 29, 1888, Vol. 87, Last Edition, p. 5, col. 6.

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