Read time: 2 min.

Licking Township’s old Hughes schoolhouse was the first of Blackford County’s I’d ever taken photos of. I’d heard from a friend that the building appeared to be on its last legs, so I drove past three-and-a-half years later after I first spied it to see for myself. 

In 1905, Licking Township’s District 7 schoolhouse sat on a section of land owned by C.W. Hughes. As might be expected, it received its common name from that association¹.

I confess to not knowing much about the old Hughes school. In 1908, Finley Geiger -a former Blackford County Superintendent of Schools of ten years- returned to the classroom as its teacher². Unfortunately, it seems as though the school closed about two years later³. It doesn’t appear on a map showing rural free mail delivery that was published in 1911⁴.

In 1912, N.W. Atkinson and his wife filed suit to quiet title against Licking Township as the District 7 building and grounds were no longer being used for educational purposes⁵. Shortly after, the building was converted into a home. Fortunately, it still stands in about the same condition as it did when I first spied it. 

Sources Cited
1 Hixson, W.W. (1905). Blackford County, Ind. map. Map Collection, Indiana Division, Indiana State Library. 
2 Back In Old Traces (1908, January 30). The Muncie Star. p. 5.
3 Thieves Busy In The Country (1910, April 29). The Muncie Star. p. 12.
4 Map of Blackford County, Indiana showing rural delivery service (1911). The United States Post Office Department. Map Collection, Indiana Division, Indiana State Library.
5 Suit to Quiet Title (1912, January 22). The Muncie Star. p. 7.