Bates House

The first schoolhouse in Farmingville was built in 1812, due to legislation set forth in Albany, NY that every child must attend school and a school must be built within a 4-mile radius. The school was sold to James Clark and moved to the point of Horseblock Road and Portion Road. It then became part of the home of the Bates Family and Gertrude Clark, the grandmother of Elmer Fogerty. It was moved west of the schoolhouse on the Fogerty property and in later years it burned.

Members of the Bates family pose for a photo with one of their prized possessions, a spinning wheel. Farm families made their own clothes. A spinning wheel was used to spin fibers to forth thread and yarn so that it could be made into cloth.