Eight Square School House Traditional Cache

The Eight Square Schoolhouse is on Upper Hanshaw Rd. in the town of Dryden, not far from Rt 13. There is parking on the property. The cache is placed with approval from The History Center in Tomkins County, who owns .the building.

Eight Square schoolhouse, built in 1827 by local carpenter Henry Balcom, is one of Tompkins County's finest local landmarks. It is the earliest school still existing in Tompkins County, and the only brick octagonal schoolhouse left standing in New York State. 

Why Eight Sides?

The philosophy of octagonal-shaped school buildings can be traced to a Quaker tradition brought over from the old country. The concept is based on the idea that an octagon shape was conducive to a better learning environment because the instructor could be placed in a prominent position within the space and be the focus of the students. It was also beneficial because the octagonal shape provided more square feet of inside space than either a rectangle or a square. Ventilation and lighting were also pertinent issues of the times, and an architectural structure with eight sides allowed for an opening in all sides of the building. The building's thick walls helped it to retain heat during the cold months, which also helped provide insulation against the heat in the warm weather.

Former History Center Director Scott Callan said: "What is unique about the bricks in the schoolhouse is that if you look closely, you can see that the bricks are laid in different patterns, or bonds, on different walls." He thinks that the reason for this is because more than one mason laid the bricks when they built the building.

Why Eight Square?

The only answer I have been able to guess is that "Square" is used to mean equal sided.

The geocache is not touching the schoolhouse (or for that matter in the schoolhouse). There are No Trespassing signs up. Please be mindful that this is a historic site ~ no loitering, no picking of plants in the garden or apples off the tree. If you are there to find the geocache, we understand that you are there to learn about the schoolhouse and will be mindful of this historic place.

The cache holds only a rolled log held together with a rubber band to fit into a tiny zip lock plastic bag. BYOP and no tweezers, please. It's tied in. Please leave it hidden as you found it. Please don't move anything but the cache itself, there is no need to.

Be Aware: No caching during school house activities. Please, stay away then. If there are cars parked and you don't see any cachers, please turn around and come back later.

Here are the current 'no cache' dates for the 2017 spring semester from 8:30 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. Teachers are usually off the premises by 3:00, so late afternoons are OK.

Weekdays May 12th through May 31st (exception: May 29th Memorial Day)

Weekdays June 1st through June 19th