Read time: 6 min.

Some of the earliest teachers in Blackford County’s Washington Township were Edward Hughes, William McKee, Edmund Lockett, William A. Bonham, and Thomas Lillibridge¹. By the turn of the twentieth century, the township’s schoolhouses were open 125 days of the year. Several remain standing today, but the most imposing reminder of the Washington Township’s scholastic history is an old gymnasium in the hamlet of Roll. 

The schoolhouses of Washington Township were officially referred to by their district number, but their patrons eventually assigned the buildings common names. In ascending order, Districts 1-9 were known as Ratliff, Dundee, College Corner, Frog Alley, Center, Bugh, Wadle, Lillibridge, and Watson. The Dundee school was renamed Roll after Matthias Roll donated the land for a second log school in the village that took his name². 

Washington Township’s schools began to consolidate after two large structures were erected. The first was a fifteen-room high school at Roll, completed in 1917 for $28,000. Built on the site of its two-room predecessor, the institution featured a manual training area and chemistry laboratory in the basement³. Five years later, township officials completed a second consolidated building known as the Washington School in District 8⁴.

A standalone gymnasium that connected to the rear of Roll High School by an elevated breezeway was built in 1938. Twelve years later, officials put up a block building to house manual and agricultural training courses⁵. All of Washington Township’s students began attending classes at Roll after the Washington School closed in 1955⁶. 

In 1958, Indiana’s State Commission for the Reorganization of School Corporations passed new guidelines for school districts that specified minimum attendance and adjusted valuations for each school district⁷. As a result, Washington Township combined with Harrison and Jackson to form Montpelier Community Schools⁸. As part of the new arrangement, Washington Township’s high school students were transferred to Montpelier six miles east⁹. 

The school at Roll was closed for good in 1969 upon the completion of the $5.3 million, 56-classroom countywide high school just north of Hartford City. The school was torn down eight years later, but its gymnasium and manual training building were preserved as community centers¹⁰. In 1993, two former Roll Red Rollers purchased the old gym for $100¹¹.

I had a chance to go into the old Roll gym twelve years ago. I’d purchased a book about Indiana’s old gyms and Roll’s was the closest to Muncie. A buddy and I drove up and knocked on doors in the sleepy village until we came to one of the owner’s houses. He drove us to the gym in a golf cart and let us play a quick game of twenty-one. 

It’s cliche, but the old Roll gym felt like it had come straight out of Hoosiers. In a way, it had! Venturing in the side doors felt like stepping into a time capsule. Lit only by two narrow skylights, the cavernous room featured a vintage scoreboard, an expansive stage, permanent wooden bleachers, and cross-court goals that were raised and lowered by chains and pulleys. It was musty and dusty and such a sight to behold that I only managed a couple crummy smartphone photos.

Unfortunately, there was also a game to play. The owner was patient as our shots clanked off the rim and told us about his time on the 1951 Red Rollers team that won the Hartford City Sectional. He even had a tape recording of the radio broadcast! He and his friend had purchased the gym with dual intentions: they’d have hated to see it torn down, but they also wanted a safe place for their grandkids to play. 

Besides the grandkids, the owner we spoke with said he also rented the gym out to people like us, intramural leagues, and Blackford County’s junior high sports teams. The income was enough to keep the lights on, but not enough for long-term preservation. After a few more minutes of chatting, I realized that I hadn’t thought to bring cash to contribute to the upkeep. My friend and I thanked him for his time, took one more look around the echoing walls, and said goodbye. 

In 2018, Blackford County Schools added a $5 million auxiliary gym with two full-sized basketball courts to the southeastern corner of Blackford Junior-Senior High School. Perhaps it was that loss of rental income, plus the owners’ advancing ages, that led them to sell the old Roll gym the following year¹². Today, the eighty-six-year-old building appears to be used for storage. 

Sources Cited
1 Shinn, B. (1900) Biographical Memoirs of Blackford County, Ind. book. The Bowen Publishing Company. Chicago, IL. 
2 McBride, M. (1996, October 14). Roll – it rhymes with doll. The Muncie Star Press. p. 19.
3 How New Roll School Will Look When Built (1917, April 22). The Muncie Star Press. p. 20.
4 Schools Are Sold (1925, June 15). The Muncie Star Press. p. 2.
5 (See footnote 2).
6 Blackford County Trustee to Sell School Building (1955, October 30). The Muncie Star Press. p. 36.\
7 Delaware County Committee for the Reorganization of School Corporations. (1959). A Comprehensive plan for the reorganization of school corporations of Delaware County Indiana. Muncie, IN; Delaware County Committee for the Reorganization of School Corporations.
8 Vote Two-Unit School Plan in Blackford (1961, April 9). The Muncie star. p. 3.
9 Four Roll School Grades to Study at Montpelier (1962, July 15). The Muncie Star. p. 2.
10 (See footnote 2).
11 Neddenriep, K. (2010). Historic Hoosier gyms: discovering bygone basketball landmarks. book. The History Press. Charleston, SC. 
12 Blackford County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 004-40008-05.