Despite a population of 8,400, the small city of Elwood, Indiana, is chock-full of landmarks. A slate of prominent historic structures surround Main Street, but I’ve always been intrigued by the abandoned school that sits a block north of State Road 28. Although its halls have long since emptied of students, the former Washington Elementary remains a silent witness to the stories of a community that once gathered inside.
Elwood was officially laid out in 18531, but its first schoolhouse had already been built a mile north of town the year before. In 1876, a central school building was erected at the corner of 18th and Main Streets. Superintendent Herman Willkie -father of future Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie- organized the community’s first high school in 18882.
Fueled by the gas boom, Elwood experienced explosive growth in the 1890s. Its population rose from 2,284 in 1890 to a whopping 12,950 ten years later! To keep up with the rapid expansion, city officials launched a major school-building effort between 1892 and 1899. The largest was a new Central High School, but the remaining four -Edgewood, Linwood, Osborn, and Washington- were intended for elementary kids3. At the northwest corner of North 7th Street and North A, Washington Elementary School is the only one that remains.
Built in 1894, the schoolhouse featured eight rooms on two floors along with a basement. By 1981, six of its classrooms housed 150 students. The seventh was used for remedial reading courses, while the eighth had been converted into an office. Two rooms in the basement had been transformed into a kitchen and a small cafeteria4.
In 1987, an $11 million building project brought major changes to Elwood’s educational system that included a new middle school and a six-room addition to Edgewood Elementary5. Washington Elementary was shuttered. In 1990, it became home to an antique mall6. Nine years later, it was used as an auction house7. I’ve been told the old school serves as the home of an online bookstore these days.
Just south of the old building, a plot of land continues the structure’s legacy for children. Several years after Washington Elementary closed, the Elwood Park Board took over its playground. Today, it’s known as Washington School Park8.
Sources Cited
1 Forkner, J. (1914). History of Madison County Indiana. A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People and Its Principal Interests, Volume 1. book, The Lewis Publishing Company. Chicago, IL.
2 A Brief History of Elwood Schools (n.d.). SharpSchool. Web. Retriebed February 6, 2024.
3 (See footnote 2).
4 School board received facilities study report (1981, September 11). The Elwood Call-Lealder. Pp. 1-3.
5 Elwood schools may not renew Knoop’s contract (1987, December 17). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 1.
6 TOURS (1990, August 18). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 8.
7 Another Chaudion Auction (1999, May 25). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 6.
8 July (1996, January 10). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 12.
I don’t think the Washington School Building is abandoned. A believe a couple of book sellers live in that building. So all of those boxes at the entry way must be theirs.
Good to know. I’ll update the headline!
On a certain level, the constant stream of new school buildings mystifies me. If there is anything that has not changed in 100 or even 1000 years, it is the process of an adult passing information and knowledge to kids. I guess people love progress, whether or not anything actually progresses.
Somehow, that steady stream of new schools makes me value their predecessors even more.
I believe there is a used book business that operates out of this building and the couple running it also lives inside.
Good to know! Thanks for the tip.
The Indiana Memory page says that the YMCA has been on the site of this school since 2021 and the school building was heavily damaged by a fire in 1988.
I think that may have been the old Wendell Wilkie School on Main Street. There wasn’t a YMCA at this site when I took photos a couple years ago, at least.