Read time: 2 min.

I’ve passed through Tipton County plenty of times. Back in high school, I even marched in parades at the storied Tipton County Pork Festival! After all of those trips, I’m ashamed to say that I don’t know much about the place beyond its towering courthouse. I’m sure the county features a wide slate of old schoolhouses, but the first to finally catch my eye was Beech Grove.

The Beech Grove schoolhouse served students of Cicero Township’s northeastern corner. In 1903, it stood on an acre of R.S. Ogle’s land at West Division Road and County Road 300-West¹. A brick building that featured an ornate entrance, a hipped roof, and a wide chimney replaced it in 1914². 

A quick drive along Division Road makes it easy to imagine Beech Grove as one of Tipton County’s most ornate rural schools. Perhaps that’s part of what led to its long life- along with the Independence and Clay schoolhouses, it was one of three in Cicero Township to remain in operation as late as 1943³! Unfortunately, those other buildings don’t appear to exist anymore.

Beech Grove closed in 1953 to send its students to Tipton’s Third Ward School, more commonly known as Lincoln Elementary⁴. That school closed in 1999⁵ and is now home to Rock Prairie Church. I’m glad its rural predecessor still stands as a testament to the one-room school era. At one point, the old school served as a church, but today, I hope it will receive the attention it deserves. Google Street View shows that a shipping container has been parked outside for at least two years.

Sources Cited
1 Map of Tipton County, Indiana (1903). Kendall & Fielding [Tipton]. Map. 
2 (1914 School – Tipton, IN (2022, July 25). Old House Dreams. Web. Retrieved February 1, 2025. 
3 Sites Listed (1943, October 26). The Tipton Daily Tribune. p. 3. 
4 Over a Century of Excellence (n.d.). Tipton Community School Corporation. Web. Retrieved February 1, 2025. 
5 Lincoln’s Last Day (1999, June 10). The Tipton County Tribune. p. 1.