In 1875, Jackson Township’s District 2 schoolhouse sat at the southwest corner of County Roads 500-North and 800-East near a plot owned by John B. Simmons. Unsurprisingly, the institution became known as the Simmons school1.
The first Simmons school was frame2. The Hancock County Assessor says the extant brick building was built in 19003, but it was almost certainly erected earlier. By 1901, Robert M. Simmons inherited the land the building stood near4.
I confess that I don’t know much about the Simmons schoolhouse. I’m not sure when it opened or closed. I do know that Jackson Township officials built a consolidated school at Charlottesville in 1926, which may have absorbed Simmons’ students5. Still some common schoolhouses remained after it opened. One may have been Simmons since it stood seven miles away.
I’m pretty certain that the schoolhouse closed by 1934, when the township’s educational institutions were all known as the Charlottesville schools6.
The Charlottesville school burned in 1935 and a new building was erected. Today, both the abandoned school at Charlottesville and the old Simmons schoolhouse still stand! Jackson Township’s old District 2 school is now a home.
Sources Cited
1 King, J.K. (1875). Map of Hancock County, Indiana from recent & original surveys. Worley and Bracher [Philadelphia]. Map
2 Walker, T.L. (1936, Setpember 10). History of Jackson Township Schools. The Hancock Democrat. p. 3.
3 Parcel 30-08-08-100-004.000-011 (2024). Office of the Assessor. Hancock County [Greenfield]. Web. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
4 Monger, I.F. (1901). Official Map, Hancock County, Ind. [Greenfield]. Map.
5 (See footnote 2).
6 Upper Grades Gain 9 Pupils (1934, September 20). The Greenfield Republican. p. 5.
