Dayton's Corners School
Dayton's Corners School is a red brick building with simple design built in 1857 and located at the corner of Plank Road and Creek Street. The schoolroom was a single large space where students of different grades learned together, furnished with basic wooden desks and a chalkboard.
The school was built in 1857 to replace an older school nearby and served Penfield District Number 9. After the mid-20th century, it stopped serving as a regular classroom, though visiting groups from other schools continued to use it into the 1960s.
The school is named after the Dayton family, who operated an orchard and store in the area. The single room reflects how children of different ages learned together and how education was central to the local community.
The location is easy to find at the corner of Plank Road and Creek Street in Penfield, situated in a quiet setting surrounded by trees and open grounds. Visitors can walk the property and get a sense of how the old school community operated and what the daily environment looked like.
Dayton's Corners is the only one-room school in the area that was not converted into another type of building and has retained its original form. The building was restored during Penfield's 175th anniversary in 1985, and a special coloring book called 'A Day at Dayton's Corners' was created in 2010 for the town's 200th anniversary celebration.
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