Many Muncie residents of a certain age remember Center School, which stood for more than sixty years out by Prairie Creek Reservoir. Its history started when Albro G. Gates granted a portion of his land to Perry Township to build a school on October 28, 18751. Before that, locals didn’t have a schoolhouse to call their own: the closest were two miles away by road2!
A District 9 school already stood on the Thomas Lindsey farm in the southeastern corner of the township, but Perry Township’s schoolhouses were renumbered at some point prior to 1881. The building on Gates’ farm took over as Number 9, and N.B. Driscoll served as its teacher that year3.
The new District 9 schoolhouse took the common name of “Center” based on its location in the township. In 1899, officials established a high school in the store at New Burlington, the largest community in the area.
Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out well for the rest of the township4, so a frame addition with an open belfry was made to the Center schoolhouse so students in grades 9-11 could attend advanced classes5. The addition was partitioned in 1902 after students from the District 2, 6, 7, and 8 schoolhouses petitioned officials to let them attend classes there, creating a unique three-room schoolhouse6!
The schoolhouse was used until a consolidated school across the road was completed in 1906. With four classrooms and an auditorium, the new Center School led to the immediate closure of every Perry Township schoolhouse but District 5 at Mt. Pleasant7. Shortly after it opened, the frame addition to the original schoolhouse was removed so it could be used as a home for the new building’s janitor8.
In 1921, the fifteen-year-old building was expanded with a two-story, brick addition that consisted of an auditorium/gymnasium, a high school assembly room, a library, bathrooms, and two classrooms. Forty-three years later, it consolidated with neighboring Selma High School. A new high school, Wapahani High School, opened in 1967 and Center School was demolished later that year9.
Today, only a 1949 agricultural building remains. Its predecessor does too, just across the street. These days, Perry Township’s original District 9: Center school is still used as a home.
Sources Cited
1 Delaware County, Indiana. (1876, October 28). Deed Book 39. p. 611.
2 Kingman, A.L. (1874). Map of Delaware County, Indiana : from recent & original surveys, made expressly for this map, drawn, compiled and published by A.L. Kingman and assistants. map, Chicago, IL; A.L. Kingman.
3 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.
4 Kemper, G. W. H. (1908). Education in Delaware County. In A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume 1. book, Lewis Publishing Company.
5 Ball State University Libraries. (2019). Center School students and faculty. Ball State Digital Media Repository. Web. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
6 (See footnote 4).
7 Delaware County Public Schools. (1906). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1906-1907. Muncie, IN.
8 (See footnote 5).
9 Farrell, J. (1967, July 25). Center School, County Landmark, to Be Razed. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 1.
I think the BSU archives has some materials related to the Center school, including a newsletter. But it may not be the same school.
It’s the same school. They do! I was just hesitant to pull from the archives there. I might add a link to the end of this post so people can explore their database.