The first school near Farmland was originally Monroe Township’s District 9. It was built on Angling Road southwest of the town in 18561. The schoolhouse closed in 1869 when a newer building was completed in Farmland proper2.
That year, the Farmland Christian Church bought the abandoned schoolhouse and occupied it for nineteen years until the Free Methodist Church acquired it in 1889. The structure was subsequently converted into a residence3.
The schoolhouse that replaced it in 1889 was a five-room building located on East Henry Street that was nearly destroyed by fire in 19084. That structure made way for the final school in Farmland, which opened in 1909 and cost $34,000.
After a tornado destroyed the modern Monroe Central High School, the 1909 Farmland school was pressed into use as the corporation’s Junior-Senior High School for the duration of the 1973-74 school year. It served as a high school from 1974 through 19785, then closed as an elementary in 1983 and was subsequently demolished6.
The 1856 building still stands southwest of town as a residence.
Sources Cited
1 Hinshaw, G. (2008). A History of Education in Randolph County, Indiana. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
2 Pitts, E. (1996, October 7). ‘Kite man’ still remembered in Farmland. The Muncie Star Press. p. 19.
3 (See footnote 1).
4 New School Being Used (1908, November 20). The Muncie Star. p. 6.
5 Public Education in Randolph County, Indiana. 2018. Sharing history for 68 years in Randolph County, Indiana. Randolph County Historical Society and Museum. Web. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
6 Public Education in Randolph County, Indiana. 2018. Sharing history for 68 years in Randolph County, Indiana. Randolph County Historical Society and Museum. Web. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
