It’s hard to believe that the Henry County hamlet of Honey Creek was once an up-and-coming place. Platted in 18581, the community featured a post office up until 19742. Two years later, most of what remained were a grain elevator and schoolhouse, both in abandoned states of disrepair3.
As far as I’ve been able to find, Honey Creek didn’t have a school until 1894, when the present building was built. The 60 x 38 foot structure4 served Fall Creek Township students in grades one through eight.
In 1902, the school made the news when its teacher, Ray Maston, was barred from teaching at Honey Creek after leaving his wife. The Henry County school superintendent found Maston’s conduct immoral, constituting “domestic inconstancy and unworthiness5,” but the State Superintendent of Public Instruction reversed the decision.
In 1926, Honey Creek led all of Henry County’s rural students in attendance when 99.21% of students went to class6. By the 1940s, the town was a bustling community, with the post office, grain elevator, three grocery stores, a gas station, and a furniture store7! Unfortunately, the schoolhouse closed in 19458. The town began to shrink.
The Honey Creek schoolhouse stood abandoned for many years before it was renovated into a home. Nine or ten years ago, the parents of a friend of mine lived there! Today, it’s still used as a dwelling- one of the most prominent in the tiny community.
Sources Cited
1 Hazzard, G. (1906). Hazzard’s History of Henry County Indiana, Volume II. 3 George Hazzard [New Castle]. Book.
2 “Henry County”. Jim Forte Postal History. Web. Retrieved 11/29/21.
3 Stearns, D. (1976, September 26). How Sweet It Was. The Muncie Star. p. 31.
4 Parcel 003-04006-00 (2024). Office of the Assessor. Henry County [New Castle]. Web. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
5 Maston May Teach Honey Creek School (1902, November 13). The Muncie Star. p. 6.
6 County Schools Swelling (1926, October 15). The Knightstown Banner. p. 1.
7 Pitts, E. (1997, November 10). Honey Creek not in the normal flow anymore. The Muncie Star Press. Pp. 7-8.
8 Winters, R. (1974, September 4). Alumni Invited to Honey Creek School Reunion.
