An early iteration of Delaware County’s Mt. Pleasant Township’s District 1 schoolhouse was erected in 18421. Later, the log school was used as a sanctuary for the congregation that later became Cammack Methodist Church2.
The schoolhouse was commonly known by the name of McKinley because of its proximity to the that family’s farm3. In 1874, James R. Williamson granted the Mt. Pleasant Township trustee a fraction of his land to build a new school4. By the 1880s, the new structure was alternatively known as either “Nebo5” or “Mt. Nebo6..” The common name of the school was a biblical allusion to the peak from which Moses was allowed a glimpse of the promised land.
In 1907, a law passed that compelled county trustees to abandon a schoolhouse when its average attendance dropped below twelve students7. As a result, the District 1 school was the second in Mt. Pleasant Township to close. Its students were sent to the new, two-room school at Cammack sometime between 1910 and 19128.
In 1935, the abandoned building was finally advertised for sale by the Mt. Pleasant Township trustee9. Four years later, the schoolhouse was still standing when it was intentionally excluded from the fifty-one acre Westacres addition tract that wrapped around the southeast side of the property10. Twenty-one years later, the school was “still standing along Nebo Road but [was] in bad condition11.”
The building’s walls were visible in 196712, but by 1975 the site was nothing more than a pile of old bricks13. Today, the footprint of Mount Pleasant Township’s old District 1 schoolhouse still exists. What’s left of the old schoolhouse can be seen where Isanogel Road terminates at Nebo. The building’s foundation is surrounded by bricks and detritus.
Sources Cited
1 Helm, T. B. (1881). Mount Pleasant Township. In History of Delaware County, Indiana: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. book, Kingman Brothers.
2 Greene, D. (1961, March 10). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star, p. 6.
3 (See footnote 1).
4 Delaware County, Indiana. (1874, June 15). Deed Book 38. p. 484.
5 The County Superintendency. (1881, May 17). The Muncie Daily News, p. 2.
6 Sunday School Convention to be Held at Mt. Pleasant M.P. Church. (1888, July 5). The Muncie Daily News, p. 2.
7 Law Will Close School (1907, April 13). The Muncie Star. p. 10.
8 Delaware County Public Schools. (1913). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1913-1914. Muncie, IN.
9 Mt. Pleasant Township Trustee. (1935, October 24). Notice of Sale of Abandoned School Property. The Muncie Morning Star. p. 13.
10 Added Tracts Being Platted. (1939, April 12). The Muncie Morning Star, p. 11.
11 History of the Mount Pleasant Township School System. (1956). Delaware County Historical Alliance. p. 1.
12 Delaware County Indiana Historic Aerial Plats. (1967). photograph, Muncie.
13 Greene, D. (1975, May 2). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star, p. 4.
Ted Shideler 