After finding all fifty-three of Delaware County’s remaining schoolhouses in 2021, I turned my attention to Blackford. It was during the height of the pandemic with little else to do! Being a small neighboring county, Blackford seemed like a manageable next goal. I uncovered the remains of fourteen schoolhouses there, but one always puzzled me. Still, three years after first laying eyes on it, I finally confirmed that I had found the old Watson Schoolhouse. All it took was Facebook.
Washington Township takes up the northwestern corner of Blackford County. Some of its earliest teachers from the pioneer days were Edward Hughes, William McKee, Edmund Lockett, William A. Bonham, and Thomas Lillibridge1. By the turn of the century, the area was home to nine district schools! Most, like Watson, were commonly known by the names of the farmers who deeded their land. Others, like College Corner and Frog Alley, received more unusual monikers.
In 1923, the District 9: Watson school taught by Olivia Bugh became Washington Township’s last operating one-room schoolhouse after the six-room Washington School opened in District 82. Watson stayed open as late as 1927, when its students achieved the highest attendance rate, 99.71%, of any school in the county3! In fact, the students of the Watson schoolhouse were often pace-setters when it came to attendance. Their 100% rate in 1922 contributed to Blackford County’s highest-ever total- 98.36% attendance in all of its rural schools3.
Unfortunately, that’s about all I could uncover about the Watson schoolhouse. A house sits where it stood on a 1905 plat map, but I wasn’t sure it was the same building. I’ve seen schoolhouses in all manner of repair or renovation over the years, but if the building was the same, it appeared to have altered past the point of resembling its original configuration. I asked a couple local history groups on Facebook, but aside from someone confirming I’d gotten the location right, everyone seemed as mystified as I was.
A couple weeks ago, the time seemed right to take another whack at asking about the Watson school again. Within a few minutes, a woman named Karla commented on my post. “This is the old school house, we owned the property from 1988 until last year. The front porch and back porch were added on. I still have the abstract5.” As it turned out, a simple virtual connection with a stranger was all it took to confirm the continued existence of Blackford County’s old Watson school. Thanks, Karla—and thank you, Facebook! Thankfully, that was easy.
Sources Cited
1 Shinn, B. (1900) Biographical Memoirs of Blackford County, Ind. book. The Bowen Publishing Company. Chicago, IL.
2 Output Declines In Window Glass (1923, August 13). The Muncie Star Press. p. 5.
3 Hartford City (1927, November 12). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 11.
4 Record Is Broken In Rural Schools (1922, October 26). The Muncie Star Press. p. 6.
5
Hummer, K.T. Remember in Hartford City (2024, December 6). This is the old school house, we owned the property from 1988 until last year. The front porch and back [Comment]. Facebook.
