Blackford County’s Dildine schoolhouse that exists today was built in 1921 as a replacement for a previous building on the same site. For some reason, a 1905 plat map of Blackford County lists both the Dildine School -then located on the land of J.F. Wentz across from Joseph Dildine’s eighty acres- and what was known as the Markle schoolhouse two miles northeast as both serving District 3¹.

The later building that assumed the Dildine name was known for the family who donated its land. Built by the local construction firm Clamme Brothers, the building is nearly identical to the schoolhouse nearby in Trenton built around the same time² that has been demolished. Jackson Township’s school at Millgrove, built in 1931, was of similar size.

In 1959, seventy-six students attended classes at Dildine³. Despite that, the District 3 school closed either the following year according to the family that purchased it, or in 1963 when its counterparts -the schoolhouses at MIllgrove and Trenton- shut down in order to send their students to the new Jackson Township Elementary that opened two miles to the west⁴.

After the District 3 schoolhouse closed, Carl and Lucille Sandhoe purchased the old school for $3,000 with the intent to demolish it. Instead, the family converted the structure into apartments⁵. Apparently, the building is thought to be haunted⁶.

The Jackson Township Elementary School that the students of District 3 were moved to closed in 1993. Two years later, it became the Blackford County jail. Today, the old Dildine schoolhouse is still home to apartments.

Sources Cited
1 Hixson, W.W. (1905). Blackford County, Ind. map. Map Collection, Indiana Division, Indiana State Library. 
2 Album of Yesteryear (1994, February 27). The Muncie Star Press. p. 15.
3 Hartford City (1959, September 7). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 10.
4 New Jackson School to Open on Monday (1964, February 23). The Muncie Star Press. p. 7.
5 Routledge, R. (2001, October 31). What a scary site! The Muncie Star Press. p. 5.
6 (See footnote 5).