It’s said that this house on 750-West in Fortville is the former Green Township District 6: Alfont schoolhouse¹. The District 6 school was shown at its present location on the land of William Alfont in 1880² and later in the same location on the farm of H.R. Jones in 1901³. The Madison County Assessor’s office lists the building as having been erected in 1976⁴. The structure has been renovated beyond its original footprint over the years in expansive projects which that date may refer to.

Unsuprisingly, William Alfont was the man who laid out the town that bears his name. Though the area was first settled around a saw mill on nearby Lick Creek since at least 1835, Alfont officially established it in 1850⁵. Alfont’s brief period of prosperity was brought along by the arrival of the Bellfontaine -later the Big Four- railroad, but the rising prominence of nearby Fortville in Hancock County ended any real hopes of its enduring success⁶. Even closer, the community of Ingalls was incorporated in 1896⁷, which stole more of Alfont’s thunder. 

Very little is known about the District 6: Alfont school itself, but it was still in operation as of 1910 according to a map showing rural free mail delivery service in Madison County at the time⁸.

It’s likely that the District 6 school was closed around 1913 when a new, four-room school was completed at Ingalls⁹. Today, the former schoolhouse is a home.

Sources Cited
1 Jackson, S. T. (2021, August 19). Madison County schoolhouses. email.
2 Madison County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 48-16-02-100-004.000-014.
3 Kingman Brothers. (1880). History of Madison County, Indiana with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. Chicago, IL.
4 (1901). Green Township. An atlas of Madison County, Indiana. map, Cleveland, OH; American Atlas Company. 
5 Alfont Village Folded As Fortville Grew (1973, September 21). The Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 50.
6 Fortville Moved, Ingalls Named For Railroad President (1976, July 3). The Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 40.
7 Forkner, J. & Dyson, B. (1897). Historical Sketches and Reminiscences of Madison County, Indiana. book. Anderson, IN.
8 Map of Madison County, Indiana showing rural delivery service (1910). The United States Post Office Department. Map Collection, Indiana Division, Indiana State Library. 
9 Contractors are Sued (1915, April 10). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 1.