District #5 was located in the village of Middleville. In 1848 the trustees of this district school were Morgan L. Churchill and Jeremiah Corey.

Jeremiah Corey ran the local public house and served as Sheriff of Herkimer County from 1843-1845. Corey's son, Erwin Corey, attended this school and later became known as E.W. Corey, Middleville's philanthropist.

Students registered during 1848 and their ages:

Morgan L. Churchill, Jr. 14
Gertrude Churchill 10
Maria Churchill 4
Erwin Corey 11
Hellen Harris 11
Amy Harris 9
Orren Harris 6
Elizabeth Wooster 14
Joseph Wooster 5
Henry Sheldon 11
William Sheldon 15
Harriett Sheldon 7
Charles Thayer 4
George Thomas 6
George Mealius 16
John Mealius 18
Anna Mealius 10
Charles White 9
George White 13
Adelia White 15
Larnard White 18
Helen White 12
Mary White 7
Edmund Stevens 12
Mary Stevens 9
George Stevens 11
William Stevens 15
Mary A. Wood 16
Emory Vosburgh 11
Eveline Vosburgh 9
Hellen Vosburgh 6
Ellen Buell 10
Maria Buell 6
Cornelius Miles 15
Ruth A. Foster 12
Roselle Foster 17
Samuel Thayer 11
Jane Owens 9
Elizabeth Owens 6
Sarah J. Mason 5
Thomas Woodruff 8
Walter Morey 18
Nelson Morey 14
Charles Wood 8
Abel Wood 17
Charles Bellknap 20
Theodore Hazelhurst 5
Frances Hazelhurst 9
Cadwalader Loyd 6
Benjamin Ford 9
Lovisa Ford 12
Dwight Safford 18
Ann Safford 14
Andrew Casady 20
Adelaid Varney 13
William Nichols 16
William Glendenning 11
Marinda Weaver 4
Mary Walker 6
Alma Griswold 14
Henry Hadcock 12
Westel Hadcock 10
Melisa Hadcock 6
Matilda Buell 14
Margarett Plumb 9
Kenyon Velie 7
Alonzo Buckstone 5
Arthur Sterry 4

Population increased rapidly in the Middleville area. In 1874 inhabitants of District #5 Fairfield and District #9 Newport passed a resolution to establish a union free school district within the limits of District #5. A large school was erected on Fairfield St. and high school courses were provided. In 1929 a new school was opened on South Main Street. The West Canada Valley Central School District was formed in 1938 and combined 20 districts in four towns. Overcrowding of the schools in Middleville and Newport led to the construction of a new high school on Route 28 between the two villages which was completed in 1964. A new elementary facility was added to the site in 1990. The village schools of Newport and Middleville stand empty, their ultimate fate still to be determined.

Source: written by Jane Dieffenbacher, Fairfield Town Historian, from the county archives, home of the reports filed each year.