During the early decades of the nineteenth century, the small one-room rural schoolhouse was beginning to emerge as a recognizable building type, one that exhibits general features and functional spaces, that recalls the early history of New York State's public education system. The small size and one-story, gable roof, rectangular massing with windows on three or four sides for light and ventilation, the interior floor plan with one large classroom, and the simple decorative detailing exemplify the classic one-room schoolhouse building type. The Clymer District School Number 5 appears to contain the suggested improvements to schoolhouse design that William A. Alcott, author of "Essay on the Construction of School-Houses" as published in 1832, which called for improvements and modifications to rural school buildings. Replacing the previous log structure of 1933 and built in ca.1853, the school was constructed by Rinaldo Braman, a local carpenter-joiner, who was hired to build the schoolhouse in the hamlet of Clymer Center. Stylistically, the schoolhouse displays venacular Greek Revival style features associated with mid-nineteenth through the early twentieth century. 

    The School Trustees of the Town of Clymer District School Number 5 instituted many recommended changes indicated in the surviving annual meeting minutes and Treasurers Reports between 1868 and 1936. The school still retains suggested changes such as an attached wood shed and girls privy; a well; an early twentieth century one car garage; double desks; late nineteenth century double-hung window sash; hardwood floors; wainscoting and electrification. The general repair lists with costs is extensive, The Clymer District Number 5 Trustees Reports Between 1868 and 1935 and the Trustees Book of Minutes Between 1896 and 1936 have provided a wealth of information regarding the schoolhouse.

   The Trustees of District Number 5 purchased land for a schoolhouse on Clymer Center Road (County Route 613) from the Holland Land Company in 1833 and a log building was erected for educational purposes. The present schoolhouse, the second to be constructed on the site, built ca.1853, fulfilled the educational needs of the district for eighty-six years. In 1936 the public school system was centralized, but the lower grades continued attending schoolhouse number 5 until 1939. After remaining vacant for a few years, it was sold in 1945 to a local farmer, William VanEarden, who used it to store farm equipment and who modified the east wall for access. Following his retirement, his daughter Bessie VanEarden, who had been a student there, used the building for an art studio. During the 1970s the schoolhouse was inherited by Gladys Legters-Vidal who had been a student there and later the last teacher at Schoolhouse Number 5. Nancy Vidal-Westerburg and Howard Vidal inherited it and Nancy, a teacher and director in the local school system, continued the restoration of the building and used it during the summers to tutor students, and hold community events; she was instrumental in having the building placed on both the State Register of Historic Places on June 28, 1994 and the National Register of Historic Places on August 29, 1994. At that point in time the personal property became the property of the State and Federal government. The contents of the building are monitored by the National Park Service and are protected and policed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Art Crime Unit. The land and building is currently co-owned by Howard Vidal and Derick & Fern Legters. Docents as of 2023 are Derick & Fern Legters.

    Clymer District School Number 5 is a remarkably intact and rare surviving example of a rural school building, located in an agricultural setting. The school reflects a familiarity on the part of the Clymer School Trustees with contemporary design and plan from the mid-nineteenth century. As a recognized local landmark, the resource recalls the early history of New York State's public educational system.

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