Modern Times School

United States historic place

Modern Times School

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Modern Times School, November 2013

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Location| Jct. of Third Ave. and First St., Brentwood, New York
Coordinates| 40°46′35″N 73°15′14″W﻿ / ﻿40.77643°N 73.25384°W﻿ / 40.77643; -73.25384
Area| less than one acre
Architectural style| Octagon Mode
NRHP reference No.| 94001478[1]
Added to NRHP| December 23, 1994

Modern Times School, also known as District 12 School and Brentwood School, is a historic school building located at Brentwood in Suffolk County, New York.

## History

[edit]

The school building was built in 1857 by the utopian community of Modern Times and was originally a small, one story, frame octagonal building sheathed in board and batten siding and surmounted by a hipped roof with octagonal cupola. It featured a rectangular projecting entrance portico surmounted by a gable roof. It has been moved twice, altered, and suffered significant deterioration. It was converted for residential use in 1907 to make room for a larger schoolhouse and was moved to its present site in 1989.[2]

The building is one of the few surviving structures of the village of Modern Times, which was founded by reformers Josiah Warren and Stephen Pearl Andrews as an experimental community in the nineteenth century. The village based itself on individual freedom and was known for its lack of jail, police, judge or money. The village lasted 13 years before renaming itself "Brentwood" to rid itself of bad connotations.[1][3]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. In 2016, the Brentwood Historical Society funded its renovation and preservation.[1][4]

The building's restoration was expected for completion in late 2023. After several false starts, the Brentwood Union Free School District funded its restoration, estimated at around $500,000, with $144,000 coming from grants via the historical society and the rest coming from the district's general fund.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. ^ Kathleen LaFrank (June 1994). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Modern Times School". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-02-20. See also: "Accompanying seven photos".
3. ^ Rumsey, Spencer (2014-09-07). "Where Brentwood Is Today Once Stood Long Island's Own Utopia". Long Island News from the Long Island Press. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
4. ^ "Preservation of Unique Long Island Schoolhouse Underway". The New York History Blog. 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
5. ^ Ledda, Brianne (August 30, 2023). "Brentwood nearly ready to welcome back school built in 1857". Newsday. Retrieved July 8, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Modern Times School (Brentwood, New York) at Wikimedia Commons

* Long Island Ruins - Around Brentwood Today

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