A predecessor to Monroe Township’s District 3 schoolhouse was the McKinney schoolhouse, which stood at the site of the original Corinth church about a mile south of the current structure1. By 1874, though, the District 3 schoolhouse was located as its present spot2. That District 3 schoolhouse was probably of wood-frame construction, since the brick one that sits there today was built a year later3.
The brick schoolhouse, along with a nearby church, takes its name from the community in which it sits, a hamlet4 that was never platted but once contained a post office5 and some homes. The school closed after the 1912-13 school year and its students were sent to Cowan6. For years, farmers used the building to store farm equipment and animals, and a 1991 wind storm damaged the structure7.
In 1992, Eleanor Miller and Helen Ross donated the schoolhouse to the Delaware County Historical Society, which had acquired the log White Oak schoolhouse six months prior8. The alliance proposed several plans for reusing the old buildings, including restoring both as museums, partnering with another organization to to do the same, or to sell them with facade easements to ensure their future preservation9.
Norman Miller, whose father Terry attended school at the shuttered building, took the lead in restoring the structure along with the Delaware County Retired Teachers Association10. The schoolhouse was restored with a new roof, cupola, and period-correct 1900-era internal accouterments in order to serve as a living history museum for area fourth grade students11.
Sources Cited
1 Greene, D. (1959, September 15). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star. p. 6.
(See footnote 39).
2 Delaware County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 1506200004000. Delaware County, Indiana Assessor. map, Muncie, IN.
3 Delaware County Public Schools. (1913). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1913-1914. Muncie, IN.
4 Flook, C. (2019). Lost Towns of Delaware County, Indiana. The History Press [Charleston]. book. p. 115.
5 Forte, J. (n.d.) Post Office. Jim Forte Postal History. Web. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
6 Swickard, R. (1991, December 29). Endangered Site. The Muncie Star. p. 16.
7 Alliance acquires a second historical schoolhouse. (1992, November 3). The Muncie Star. p. 5A.
(See footnote 51).
8 (See footnote 5).
9 Friends of Corinth. (2002, November 21). The Muncie Star Press. p. 26.
10 Roysdon, K. (2005, November 21). Students learn from past at Corinth schoolhouse. The Muncie Star Press. p. 4.
11 Towns, E. (2002, June 28). Lessons still being taught at old school. The Muncie Star Press. p. 33.
Ted Shideler 