PORTVILLE -- That pieces of Portville's past have been preserved for well over 100 years isn't so unusual.

That they're on land where two roads cross is.

Go to any "four corners" in just about any town in America and it's rare to find hints of the distant past. Instead, there's a gas station or a store -- some sort of business built in the automobile era as a lure to crossroads travelers.

But not at Bedford Corners in Portville, two miles north of the village where Route 305 and Wolf Creek Road join north to south and east to west. There, Portville's only remaining one-room schoolhouse not only still stands, but is remarkably sound for a building that dates back to the days of Abe Lincoln.

Across the road is a two-story structure built as a cheese factory back in 1886. It, too, seems to have forgotten its age.

Both buildings were recently acquired by the Portville Historic and Preservation Society. It is seeking grants to restore and preserve the buildings, which have been placed on the state Register of Historic Places.

Ronda Pollock, secretary of the Portville society, said it was during a tour of the site by a representative of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation that the local society learned of its unique holding.

"He said to us, 'Do you realize what you have? Any other four corners would have seen some kind of commercial development -- a gas station or something,'" she said.

The buildings were given to the society by Col. Charles O. Eschelman, a retired career Army officer and trustee of the historical society. He acquired the buildings in the 1960s in an effort to preserve them in their natural setting, said Mrs. Pollock.

Mr. Eschelman still lives in a house on one of the four corners, a home built about 1860 by Jacob and Marilla Bedford. It, too, is to be preserved as part of the Bedford Corners Rural Historic District.

The schoolhouse was built in 1864 on land Mr. Bedford gave to the school district. It was still being used as a school into the late 1940s, then was used by church and fellowship groups. When Mr. Eschelman bought it in 1965 it had fallen into disrepair, society records show. He made repairs so as to preserve its structural integrity.

The society plans to restore it inside and out, using a collection of old photographs as a guide. Old desks and the pot-bellied stove that once warmed the students are still intact. An old bell tower removed from the roof decades back will be rebuilt

"We want to recreate what it was like long ago, maybe at the turn of the last century," said Marlis Aaron, society president. "Hopefully today's school kids can come in and spend a day here, seeing what it was like in a one-room schoolhouse."

The cheese factory was built directly across the street from the school on land Mr. Bedford deeded to a man named Jason Hopkins. It produced cheese until 1898. The building then had a succession of owners until 1924 when it was sold to the Portville Grange.

Thereafter known as the Grange building, it was used as a meeting place for community activities and dinners. "It was a big square dance place on Saturday nights," said Ms. Aaron.

The Grange sold the building to Col. Eschelman in 1971.

His motive in acquiring the Bedford Corners properties and others was simple, said Ms. Pollock. "I think it was nostalgia. He just wanted to save them," she said.

Earlier this year Col. Eschelman gave some 400 acres of land adjacent to Bedford Corners to the Pfeiffer Nature Center.

Plans for the Grange building are not firm, but possible ideas include a farmers' museum, an arts and crafts workshop and a gift shop, said Ms. Aaron.

The society is now seeking help in restoring the two buildings. It has applied for a matching grant from the state and is looking to provide its part of the match with local labor. Among the skilled volunteers being sought are cleaners, carpenters, restorers, painters, electricians, sandblasters, researchers and others.

The society is also looking for school-related memorabilia -- photos and yearbooks, old textbooks, maps and globes, lunch boxes, costumes, old letters and diaries, etc.

Those interested in helping or making a contribution may stop by the society's office at 17 Maple Ave. on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through September, or call 933-8914 or 933-8917.