Schools and Churches

Places of education and worship are the centerpieces of communities. The first schoolhouse in Catlin was built on Martin’s Hill in 1820. By the 1890s, there were 12 schoolhouses in the town. The last of them closed in 1957. A branch of the Baptist Church of Big Flats held religious services in Catlin as early as 1836. In the 1850s, Seventh Day Adventists offered Sabbath school classes at School No. 1 in Catlin Center. The Full Gospel Church is now located at the site. The First Methodist Church was the first church built in the town in 1881. It is one of four churches still serving the community today. There are 15 known cemeteries in Catlin including the Pine Valley Cemetery,

the only one still taking new burials.

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Catlin

Picnic at School No.1, 1957 This drawing of the last picnic held for School No. 1 at Catlin Center on June 20, 1957 was made by Eva Kimble. When the last of Catlin’s rural schoolhouses closed in 1957, students were sent to the Beaver Valley School and to schools in the Corning, Watkins Glen, or Horseheads school districts. (Image courtesy of the Catlin town historian)
Dedication Ceremony program, 1938 This program was from Catlin School No. 5 Dedication Ceremony, April 16, 1938. Miss Irma Tenny taught seven pupils at the one-room schoolhouse that year.
First Methodist Church, 1994 In 1881, volunteers built the First Methodist Church of Catlin at Tompkins Corners. In 1923, an annex was added to the church and, in the 1960s, an adjoining property was purchased for a parsonage and fellowship hall. (Image courtesy of the Catlin town historian)

Schools and Churches

Picnic at School No.1, 1957

Dedication Ceremony program, 1938

This program was from Catlin School No. 5 Dedication Ceremony, April 16, 1938. Miss Irma Tenny taught seven pupils at the one-room schoolhouse that year.

First Methodist Church, 1994

In 1881, volunteers built the First Methodist Church of Catlin at Tompkins Corners. In 1923, an annex was added to the church and, in the 1960s, an adjoining property was purchased for a parsonage and fellowship hall. (Image courtesy of the Catlin town historian)