Center Township’s District 3 schoolhouse was built in 1894¹, but the institution’s history goes back even further: an earlier District 3 schoolhouse sat about a third of a mile north of the present structure, abutting the Little Brandywine Creek on an acre deeded by Elisha Davis². The school was commonly known as “College Hill” at least as early as 1882³, but its name was changed -briefly- when it was relocated.

The new building, at the corner of what’s now Morristown Pike and East County Road 200-South, was first called the Grover Cleveland School after the then-president. Perhaps due to Cleveland’s political affiliation⁴ or, more likely due to the effects that the Panic of 1893 had on his popularity⁵, a group that some remember as being local Republicans swarmed the recently-finished building, erected scaffolding, and chiseled away Cleveland’s name from the lintel⁶. The old name of College Hill was carved back in its place.

The College Hill school was open through the 1915-16 school year⁷. It was permanently shuttered after beginning the term with twelve students and ending it with “only a very few⁸.” The abandoned schoolhouse was sold to J.C. Hamilton in 1929 as the first of five obsolete structures that the township deaccessioned that year⁹.

In 1980, the schoolhouse was the home of the Country Particulars craft shop that sold items like spice holders and bespoke stained glass windows created by local artisans¹⁰. The schoolhouse was still standing in one piece as late as 2017 but had been reduced to ruin by the following year¹¹. In 2021, some of its bricks were used to line the east-facing exterior wall of The Depot, a restaurant and bar housed in what was once Greenfield’s grain elevator¹².

Sources Cited
1 Kirk, M. (2021, September 3). Elevator Evolution. The Greenfield Daily Reporter. p. 4.
2 An Atlas of Hancock County, Indiana (1887). Griffing, Gordon & Co. Philadelphia. Print.
3 Binford, J. (1882). History of Hancock County, Indiana. King & Binford. Greenfield. Print. p. 150.
4 Davis, H. (1966, June 9). Letters to the Editors. The Greenfield Daily Reporter. p. 3.
5 School houses unusual craft shop (1980, October 27). The Greenfield Daily Reporter. p. 2.
6 (See footnote 4).
7 Skvarenina, J. (1989, May 8). Residents share thoughts on one-room school days. The Greenfield Daily Reporter. p. 6.
8 School is Closed. (1916, April 6). The Greenfield Daily Reporter. p. 4.
9 Hamilton Buys College Hill (1929, July 22). The Greenfield Daily Reporter. p. 1.
10 (See footnote 5).
11 Google (2017, August 25). [Google Earth Pro historical satellite image of College Hill School site]. Retrieved November 20, 2022, from Google Earth Pro.
12 (See footnote 1).