The hamlet of Bluff Point is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it proposition in Jay County, six-and-a-half miles south of Portland on US-27. Named for the elevation on which it sat1, the community never reached the lofty goals set forth by its name. Aside from a smattering of houses, a cemetery, church, and an old schoolhouse are all there is to see. I love places like Bluff Point!
There was no Bluff Point schoolhouse in 1881. In those days, students in the area probably studied at the District 9 school at the corner of County Roads 800-South and 100-West, or the District 7 school at 800-South and 100-East2. Unfortunately, neither building stands today.
The Bluff Point school was established sometime prior to 1887, when it served the students of Pike Township’s District 103. Like most one-room schools, kids from grades one through eight attended classes at the building, at least until it closed prior to the 1945-46 school term. That year, students from Bluff Point were transferred to schools in Portland, Saratoga, and Deerfield4.
Today, the old Bluff Point schoolhouse is one of only a few I’m aware of to remain under ownership of the township it originally served5. At least as of twenty years ago, the school was a polling place and hosted 4-H meetings. Any Pike Township taxpayer could rent the building for events6.
Sources Cited
1 Baker, R.L. (1995). From Needmore to Prosperity: Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History. Indiana University Press [Bloomington]. Book.
2 Hardesty, H.H. (1881). Historical Hand Atlas Illustrated. H.H. Hardesty [Chicago]. Map.
3 Atlas of Jay County, Indiana (1887). Griffing, Gordon. & Co. [Philadelphia]. Map.
4 Hummel, P. (2000, September 8). Brick Buildings stir many memories. The Muncie Star Press. p. 30.
5 Jay County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2024). Parcel ID: 38-11-21-302-003.000-029. Jay County, Indiana Assessor. map, Portland, IN.
6 (See footnote 4).
