History of the Stockton Borough School District
Stockton, New Jersey

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District 98 School

Notes from the National Register Nomination Application

•  1827 - the property upon which the school is to be built is set-aside in the deed of John Cavanaugh and his wife to Issac and Joseph Scarborough.

• 1832 - Octagonal School is built.

• 1872 – Octagonal school is torn down to make way for new school. Architect James Bird  is paid $25.00 for the design and plan of the new school.O.H. Sproul, district clerk, awarded the contracts to build the new school to Joseph H. Butterfoss and A. C. Williamson, builders and to Henry Everitt, Mason. Dedication  ceremony for the new school is held on April 12, 1873. 1884 - A one-room addition that maintains the lines of the original 1872 schoolhouse is added onto the School.

• The original cornerstone from the 1832 school is embedded in the foundation of the of the 1872 breezeway, which is now the School office.

• 1898 - Stockton Borough is incorporated. Stockton School becomes a separate school district in August 1899, no longer under the management of Delaware Township

• 1951 – Local residents form a citizen’s group to save the school when new state regulations mandate that the current school be brought up to code.

• In order to keep the school open the townspeople of Stockton float a $25,000 Bond to pay for the renovations and improvements. Outhouses are removed and indoor plumbing and restrooms are installed.

• 1976 – The School’s bell is removed and placed on Borough Hall, where it now resides.

• A small kitchen and teacher’s room is partitioned out of a portionn of the present second and third grade room.

• 1979 - Ceilings are lowered and ceiling tiles are installed in all rooms. Above the new ceiling the original plaster and wood beam ceiling remains.

• 2004 – District 98 School is placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

On April 12, 1873 at the dedication ceremony for the Stockton School , there was much celebration. Honorable H. L. Hoppock presided over the program. Reverend  William Swan read from the scriptures and Reverend A. Caldwell said a prayer of dedication. 13. Then District Clerk, O.H. Sproul made a statement on the amount expended on the building and the County Superintendent of Schools, Cornelius S. Conkling gave a jubilant address stating “ that the inhabitants of the district were delighted with the new building.” 14.

            The general public was also delighted. In a letter to the Beacon dated 13 February 1874 “Letter from Stockton : On Tuesday of this week, we paid a visit to our public school. We were first shown in the basement and examined the method by which the schoolhouse is heated. This was done by a large heater, with pipes running into each room, and although the day was quite cold and the basement open, we found the school rooms sufficiently warm. This heater cost $178.00, all completed, ready for use, and so far not five tons of coal have been consumed this winter, which is certainly a small quantity when we take into consideration the size of the schoolhouse and no one doubts its great superiority over a stove.

            From the basement we were conducted into the room occupied by the more advanced scholars. We found the school well supplied with Monteith’s maps, a globe and a large black board. In looking over the register we counted 70 scholars upon the list, 37 of whom had regularly attended every session of the school during the last three weeks. The register of the juvenile department showed an attendance of 50 children and an average daily attendance of 35.” 15.

             The new public school known as District 98 held the children from nearby Prallsville, Brookville and Stockton. It was the largest school building in the county and a large undertaking for the Trustees and District but with a growing population, the need for an even bigger school became evident. The Lambertville Beacon on 21 September 1877 reported to its readers’ that “the primary department of the public school has received such an increase in numbers that it is uncomfortably crowded. Some immediate plan will have to be adopted to remedy this, make two separate departments or enlarge the room.” 16. The school was already renting rooms from John Stockton for the sum of $40.00 per year to handle the overflow of students.

            In March of 1884 the legal voters met at the schoolhouse to consider enlarging the present school or making other arrangements for better accommodation of the pupils. It was decided upon to build the new school, but not to exceed the sum of  $1,500.00.

 “It was agreed to advertise for proposals for building an addition to the main school building, the cellar to be finished and the room overhead to be built in the same style as the present large Assembly room and finished the same. The driveway/breezeway is to be left under the addition, next to the main building.”

The breezeway was enclosed and a handicapped bathroom was installed in the 1980’s to comply with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). 

When the school was built it was the largest school building in 1874 but it was evident that an addition need to be built”…. Lambertville Beacon 1877. Hunterdon County was established in 1714. But it did encompass parts of Mercer County ( Princeton , Lawrenceville and Hopewell Twp. ) until about 1838. And parts of Somerset Co. (Tewkesbury Twp.) until 1844.