In 1966, Marsh Supermarkets caused a stir across the Midwest when it jumped into the rapidly growing convenience-store business. Over the next four decades, the company built its Village Pantry brand into a regional powerhouse by opening 154 locations across Indiana and Ohio! Today, some have taken on new lives under different names. Whenever I stumble across one, I can’t resist snapping a photo.

Five years ago, I launched a mission to track down every old schoolhouse in Madison County, Indiana. By the time I finished, I’d located forty-five of them. Some were standing, some were hanging on, and others were crumbling into ruins. Unfortunately, my total of forty-five has dropped by one: I recently discovered that the house I believed was Fall Creek Township’s old Spring Valley School wasn’t the school at all. It was close, though! Let me explain:

After it closed, Muncie’s old Harrison Elementary spent nearly half a century as the educational center of Full Gospel Temple. Now, that chapter is coming to a close: with a brand-new youth center in place, the church is preparing to sell the school so it can be converted into apartments¹! Last Saturday, its doors opened one last time to host a massive rummage sale. I stopped by with the knowledge that it might be a last chance to see inside.