A modest assembly of two chain restaurants, a pair of motels, a used car outlet, a Mexican restaurant, and an unassuming commercial building stand at the intersection of Interstate 70 and US-27 just north of Richmond. I’ve found that the most ordinary structures can hide the most interesting stories, and this highway junction is no exception: often overlooked, the aging strip mall east of Fricker’s was once part of Wayne Township’s Highland School.
The city of Richmond dominates Wayne Township today, but that wasn’t always the case. By 1893, the area featured fifteen rural schoolhouses outside the city limits1! Officials began consolidating the primitive buildings into larger ones by the early 1900s. Built by Trustee Charles Hodge, Highland School replaced the dilapidated Chester and College Hill schoolhouses in 19292.
The “excellent building,” as a state school inspector described Highland3, was a landmark in rural Wayne Township. It was formally dedicated in 1930 in a ceremony that awarded diplomas to forty-eight students from the Highland, Pleasant View, and Fountain Hill schools4. Unfortunately, trouble was brewing. Highland was already overcrowded!
Township officials immediately hired an architect to draw up plans for a six-room schoolhouse, Riley, located near the southern part of Wayne Township5. Highland received its own eight-room addition in 1953, when it served students in grades 1-6. The expansion allowed three classes of elementary students to vacate its tiny gymnasium6.
Highland School lasted nearly twenty years after the addition. In 1972, a new school called Highland Heights Elementary opened a mile northeast. The old Highland building was sold for $95,000 the following year7. Lucky Steer, a chain of family restaurants based in West Lafayette, purchased part of the site in 19758.
The 1930 portion of Highland was demolished to make way for the restaurant, but the 1953 addition was allowed to remain. Eventually, it became a strip mall of sorts. In 1991, the building was home to Rose City Restaurant Equipment and Supply, Highland Video, Estes Appliance Service, and Custom Reloaders when the roof blew off in a 57-mile-an-hour squall9!
Today, the 1953 addition still houses a handful of storefronts and businesses. Its replacement, Highland Heights, closed in 2012 and is now owned by Reid Health10. At the site of the original Highland school, Lucky Steer became Ponder-Villa11, Maverick’s, and T-Bird’s before It turned into Fricker’s in 199712. I bet few who order a plate of Frickin’ Chicken or a Big Frickin’ Burger remember the building next door as a school! It’s a piece of hidden history.
Sources Cited
1 Rerick Brothers (1893). The County of Wayne, Indiana, an imperial atlas and art folio. Rerick Brothers [Richmond]. Map.
2 Highland School Cafeteria Serves 70 Pupils At Noon (1929, September 6). The Richmond Palladium. p. 12.
3 School Inspector Sends in Report On Local Activities (1930, February 11). The Richmond Palladium. p. 9.
4 Dedication of New Highland School Staged (1930, May 1). The Richmond Item. p. 1.
5 New School Planned In Wayne Township (1930, February 26). The Richmond Item. p. 1.
6 May Finish New School In February (1953, January 29). The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 1.
7 Fleming, J. (1973, September 1). School Board Approves 4-Year Construction Program. The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 3.
8 Lucky Steer Restaurant reopens as Ponder-Villa (1982, November 13). The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 14.
9 Wasson, P. (1991, March 28). Winds take off roof. The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 1.
10 Zimmerman, B. (2012, January 12). RCS approves master plan 6-1. The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 1.
11 (See footnote 8).
12 Schultz, M. (1997, September 25). Fricker’s to take over T-Birds’ former roost near I-70. The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 3.
I had not thought about the Lucky Steer steak house chain in years! We used to eat at one located on Coloseum Boulevard at Lake Avenue in Fort Wayne. But even as kids we knew that the steer was the unluckiest one of the whole deal.
The Steer was unlucky, that’s for sure. We had one in Muncie at one point, but I believe the building’s been torn down. If I can find one that’s been repurposed, a blog post might be in order!