Randolph County’s first schoolhouse in Huntsville stood just north of the corner of South Huntsville Road and South County Road 510-West in Huntsville proper1. The school was later moved east to face South County Road 500-West, or Main Street, in Huntsville2.Â
The town of Huntsville operated the schoolhouse from the 1870s up until 1891, when its operations reverted to the purview of West River Township. From then on, the school operated as District 5 until 18943. At that point, a larger, three-room schoolhouse was built north of Huntsville at the southwest corner of South County Road 500-West and West County Road 600-South. The District 6 school, known as Bronson, consolidated into it upon its completion4.Â
Three years after its closure in 1894, the original schoolhouse was sold to the Grand Army for use as a meeting hall before it became a blacksmith’s shop until the 1920s. In 1953, the abandoned building was remodeled to serve as the Huntsville Community Center. It retains that status today5.Â
The three-room school at Huntsville was either replaced5 or expanded6 in 1911 to become a four-room building. A gymnasium wing was added in 1921. The 1911 school was used as a high school until 1952, when its upper grades were sent to the District 10 school at Modoc as part of the newly-formed Union Township School Corporation7. The building lasted until 1957 under the name of East Union Elementary8. It was demolished the following yearÂ
Sources Cited
1 Warner, C.S (1865). 1865 Wall-Map of Randolph County. C.A.O. McClellan & C.S. Warner. Waterloo, Indiana. map.
2 Tucker, E. (1882). History of Randolph County, Indiana. book. Chicago, IL; A.L. Kingman.
3 Hinshaw, G. (2008). A History of Education in Randolph County, Indiana. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
4 (See footnote 3).
5 Barrett, M. C. (1977, April 10). Town of Distinction. The Muncie Star. p. 35.
5 (See footnote 3).
6 (See footnote 3).
7 (See footnote 5).
8 Modoc Arranges Union Township School Dedication (1957, October 31). The Muncie Star. p. 19.
