Many Delaware County residents know about the stone marker that commemorates Union Township’s District 2 schoolhouse in northern Delaware County. It’s stood at the corner of County Roads 1200-North and 200-East since 1949¹! Fewer probably realize that they’ve driven past the old schoolhouse as well: if my research is correct, it sits about a third of a mile east of the monument.

In 1858, Thomas C. Poor granted officials a portion of his land for use as a schoolhouse near the northeastern corner of Union Township. Poor charged the township $2.00, insisting that the rights to the land expire after ninety-five years or after the plot was no longer used for a school². 

A frame schoolhouse was soon erected. In 1881, Francis Wagner was the teacher at District 2, which closed thirty-seven years later as the last of Union Township’s schools to consolidate into Eaton³. Besse Brandt was the last teacher at the Poor schoolhouse⁴. 

After its closure, it appears as though the schoolhouse was moved a third of a mile east to be used as a home. A resident, Norma Haas Robbins, recalled that the home on their acreage was “an old schoolhouse, not too bad⁵.” 

Later generations of Haas Robbins’ family were told that the house was originally the Poor School “that had been moved to the location on the 26-acre farm,” but admitted that “it is quite possible that the story is only that – a story⁶.” The Delaware County assessor’s office indicates that the house was built in 1860, just two years after Poor deeded his land⁷, but plat maps from 1874⁸ and 1887⁹ don’t show any building at its present site. 

Regardless of its stature, the old building appears to be abandoned today.

Sources Cited
1 Greene, D. (1951, December 3). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star Press. p. 4.
2 Delaware County, Indiana. (1858, August 13). Deed Book 20. p. 506.
3 Delaware County Public Schools. (1918). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1918-1919. Muncie, IN. 
4 Delaware County Public Schools. (1917). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1917-1918. Muncie, IN. 
5 Haas, R. (1992). North of Eaton Farm. RobbHaas Family Pages. Web. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
6 Haas, R. (1992). Poor School. RobbHaas Family Pages. Web. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
7 Delaware County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 0311400016000. Delaware County, Indiana Assessor. map, Muncie, IN.
8 Kingman Brothers. (1874). Map of Delaware County, Indiana. Chicago, IL.
9 Griffing, B. N. (1887). Mt. Pleasant Township. An atlas of Delaware County, Indiana . map, Philadelphia, PA; Griffing, Gordon, & Company.