Cedar Hill Schoolhouse

More than three years ago, out on my travels, I first noticed the red schoolhouse that is home to the Bethlehem Historical Association, and vowed to return one day during opening hours.

Today we finally made it!  And it was a lovely treat.  It's a tiny and very charming museum, made the more special because we were shown around by a lady who had attended school there in the 1960s (shortly before it was turned into a museum).  When she was a pupil there, it was a two-room school only for 3rd and 4th Graders.  Her mother had attended before her, and her grandmother before that, right back when it was a one-room schoolhouse for students up to Grade 8.

The exhibits are interesting and well displayed.  At the moment there's a collection of 1890's dresses on show, and a range of old-fashioned toys and books from the last two centuries.  The Man was taken by the history of ice-harvesting in the area, which was explained in a book of photos assembled by the Historical Association.  Ice was cut from the Hudson during the winter and stored in the many huge ice-houses beside the river, using hay as insulation.  During the summer, blocks of ice were shipped down-river to New York City.

The museum's hours are short and few. But I'd say it's definitely worth making a little drive through the countryside to go and see it, if you happen to be in the Bethlehem area on a Sunday afternoon in June, July or August.