Read time: 3 min.

My mom and I had eyes on the old Long Line tower near LaGrange when we noticed an old schoolhouse in unusually-tidy repair. I tend to be single-minded on research trips, but Mom insisted I take a photo. I did, and here’s all I’ve been able to uncover about Bloomfield Township’s Oak Grove Schoolhouse in LaGrange County.

I’ve now been to three Oak Grove schoolhouses in Indiana. The ruins of the first, in Jay County’s Knox Township, are endlessly fascinating. The second, in Delaware County’s Niles Township, is still maintained by the township trustee as one of the area’s last schools to wear its original cupola.

Researching those schools wasn’t particularly tricky, but finding information about LaGrange County’s version has been difficult! Here’s what I know: Bloomfield Township’s old Oak Grove school sits at the corner of County Roads 325-E and 250-N. The building has been preserved or restored to a pristine state.

There doesn’t seem to have been a school at the corner in 1874. That year, the closest institution was the Pleasant Hill schoolhouse, which stood two miles away¹. Oak Grove only came about in 1887, when it was built on land owned by E.S. Sears². The school obtained its common name by 1893³.

It’s hard to say with certainty, but I imagine that Oak Grove served Bloomfield Township’s District 2. Most of Indiana’s townships designated school districts in a serpentine fashion starting from their northeast corner. Only one school, the Nasby schoolhouse, sits further towards that corner of the township⁴, and I bet it served District 1. Unfortunately, Google Street View confirms that the Nasby schoolhouse is no longer with us.

Eventually, Bloomfield Township’s rural schoolhouses consolidated into the three-room Huff Corners school at US-20 and County Road 300-East. That school operated until 1964, and Mom and I also passed it on our way to the Long Line Tower. We didn’t take any photos, but it was clear some effort had been put into restoring it. Later we learned it’s being converted into an event space⁵.

Bloomfield Township’s Oak Grove schoolhouse was delightful to stumble across- it’s only 800 feet away from LaGrange’s old Long Line tower! The proximity of two of my obsessive interests makes for a striking juxtaposition in person. I wish I knew more about it.

Sources Cited
1 An Illustrated Historical Atlas of LaGrange County, Indiana (1874). Andres & Baskin [Chicago]. Atlas.
2 An illustrated atlas and Columbian souvenir of LaGrange County, Indiana (1893). LaGrange Publishing Company [LaGrange]. Atlas. 
3 (See footnote 2).
4 (See footnote 2).
5 Family restoring Huff Corners school (2022, October 24). The LaGrange Standard. Web. Retrieved December 24, 2023.