Closed in 1964: The Abandoned Henrietta Agricultural School, Pleasant Lake

The area is known as Pleasant Lake, or Layton’s Corners, or Henrietta.

Henrietta Township was organized in 1837 and named West Portage, west of the two Portage Lakes. The following year, a post office opened; and in 1839, another settler, Henry Hurd, renamed the town 'Henrietta' after his hometown in New York.

Henrietta was also called “Layton's Corners”, named after L.J. Layton, who owned the hunk of land found at the southeast and west corners of the downtown intersection. Hard to fathom, but the little downtown area had quite a few businesses: blacksmith, the “Pleasant Lake House”, post office, and general store.

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It appears that there is some confusion what to call this place when it comes to maps. So I think many mapmakers – including Google Maps – take the easy way out and just call it “Pleasant Lake”, named after the lake that lies just above downtown.

As for the abandoned school, it was called the Henrietta Agricultural School, sitting a short way above the downtown intersection on the west side of the road. Information on the history of this place is difficult to locate, so I’m guessing the building began life as an elementary or high school. The year of construction is unknown, but I’m guessing the 1950s...it has that kind of look to it.

The last class to graduate from the Henrietta Agriculture School was in 1964 and then the school was permanently closed. The building remained empty for many years. Former students remember spending their youth there, hanging out with friends in the cafeteria and ‘dancing around the May pole’ on May Day during recess.

One person on Facebook stated that a post office operated out of the school and auctions were held.

Google Maps refer to the former school as the ‘Lost Souls Academy’, a Halloween attraction. A statement online says: “Welcome to Lost Souls Academy! Where your nightmares become a reality. Walk the halls of our Academy with the Souls who came before you and never left."

Well, we’ll do that right now with a tour of our own, as we walk briefly through and around the old school...scroll down and take a look at the images in the gallery below.