Stoney Creek Township’s District 5 schoolhouse was known as Hubbard. It sat on West County Road 150-South, a quarter of a mile east of North County Road 900-West in Randolph County1. Three years later, it had moved to Indiana State Road 1, half a mile south of West County Road 100-South2. In 1907, it was one of two polling places of a newly-divided Stoney Creek Township3.
Flora Pearson was the teacher in 1913 when the school opened for its final term4. It closed after its average attendance ran afoul of state requirements. After the building was sold in 1917, it appears to have been relocated three-quarters of mile south where it was repurposed into a home5.Â
The original schoolhouse was a rectangular, one-story structure with two chimneys and a cross-gabled roof topped by a belfry. As depicted in a vintage postcard, it looked nothing like the home that sits there today! Nevertheless, locals remain steadfast in the knowledge that the house was once a school6.
According to county records, the home I took a photo of was built in 1916, just a few years after the schoolhouse closed but a year after the building was sold by the township7. Based on what we know, I think a couple of scenarios could have taken place:
- The schoolhouse was moved from its original location and added to when it was converted into a home.
- The schoolhouse was torn down and its materials were used to build the home.
- Area residents are wrong and the home was never the District 5 schoolhouse.
- The postcard I saw was labeled incorrectly and depicted a different schoolhouse.
I don’t doubt area residents or the postcard I saw, and my hunch is that scenario 2 is what played out. Unfortunately, I don’t know for certain. Surely the home I took a photo of isn’t Randolph County’s old District 5: Hubbard schoolhouse. Or maybe it is! I don’t know.
Do you?
Sources Cited
1 Tucker, E. (1882). History of Randolph County, Indiana. book. Chicago, IL; A.L. Kingman.
2 Hinshaw, G. (2008). A History of Education in Randolph County, Indiana. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
3 Randolph Co. Election (1907, December 4). The Muncie Morning Star. p. 6.Â
4 Stoney Creek Township (1913, September 8). The Muncie Morning Star. p. 2.
5 (See footnote 2).
6 Hinshaw, G. (2022, March 1). Personal communication.
7 Randolph County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2022). Parcel ID: 68-15-01-100-007.000-010. Randolph County, Indiana Assessor. map, Winchester, IN.
